Creditor Fortress was the only bidder for a handful of properties owned by Charles Cohen at a foreclosure auction Friday that saw the lender offer $5 million for U.K.’s arthouse theater chain and distributor Curzon.
There were no bids for Landmark Theatres, a person familiar with the situation tells Deadline, and we hear it will stay with Charles Cohen and could be business as usual. It doesn’t appear the auction entertained bids for individual theaters. Cohen’s group has maintained that the chain is not in jeopardy and that it expected a positive outcome — if zero bids can be considered positive.
The indie distribution community generally isn’t enamored of the way Landmark’s been run since Cohen acquired it in late 2018, citing lack of investment, a move to wide releases and the shuttering of key theaters including the Landmark LA, which closed in the spring of 2022 after losing its lease. To be fair, Covid was a money sucking disaster for cinema owners including the nation’s once dominant arthouse chain.
Fortress, it seems, is now on a path to control Curzon, the well-regarded exhibitor and distributor across the pond. Deadline will update when we get a sense of what’s happening there.
Fortress lent Cohen $534 million backed by a handful of properties including Landmark and Curzon and sued him earlier this year for default. A New York State Supreme Court judge agreed to Fortress’ request for an auction to recoup what it could and set it for Nov 8.
At the event Friday, Fortress also bid $76 million for the Design Center of the Americas and $30 million for Le Meridien hotel, both in Dania Beach, Fla. It bid $37.7 million for the former Doral Arrowwod golf club in Westchester, New York, according to New York real estate publication The Real Deal. A credit bid is one made by a lender at a foreclosure using all or part the debt owed as the bid amount. The lender is often the highest bidder at a foreclosure sale.
Fortress’ credit bids at the auction totaled $148.7 million.
In a deposition Fortress made public last month, Cohen was asked about the properties’ underlying its loan and did not disagree with statements that Landmark showed a net loss of more than $14 million and Curzon of just under $8.5 million, and that the value of Landmark in particular had fallen dramatically.
Fortress is also entitled to a legally binding $187 million personal guarantee by Cohen and has accused the real estate mogul of moving properties out of his name to evade the order.