Midway's Batman or Underpants Gnomes?
His identity is like Batman's: unknown. Everyone in the gaming metropolis is buzzing about who Thomas, the man who Friday agreed to pay $100,000 for an 87% stake in Midway, the publisher of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, actually is. Here are some bare-bones facts:
- Thomas wants to be a passive investor, said Peter Kolevzon, an attorney with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, the New York law firm that is representing Thomas in the transaction.
- Thomas is the primary investor and beneficiary of the generically named Acquisition Holdings Subsidiary.
- He does not intend to be on Midway's board. Nor does he plan to get involved in the management of Midway despite his huge stake in the Chicago company, Kolevzon said.
- He is a U.S. citizen, city unknown.
- He is not granting interviews.
Bruce Wayne may be the Dark Knight, but is this Thomas character Midway's white knight?
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On the credit side of the ledger, he gets 87% of a video game publisher that owns the Mortal Kombat franchise. Midway also had $10.5 million in cash and $21.6 million in receivables as of its last quarter, ended Sept. 30. He also gets a $70-million I.O.U. that Midway once owed to National Amusements -- Midway's payments on that loan will now go to Thomas.
On the debit column, Midway has $150 million in outstanding loans, not including the $70 million it will owe Thomas. It also has a payroll of about 900 employees that it is struggling to meet. Last quarter, the company lost nearly $76 million on $51.4 million in revenue."
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This all seems kind of bizarre.
Phase 1) Buy company that is saddled with debt, bleeding cash for $100k and "Be a passive investor" i.e., "Don't do anything"
Phase 2) ???
Phase 3) PROFIT!
