Former businessman Gilbert Rozon, fallen founder of the Just for Laughs Group, risks losing millions of dollars in the collapse of the company he had sold.
• Read also: Just for laughs: a week before, its offices had been seized
The trustee on file, Christian Bourque, of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, confirmed to Newspaper that a company not yet registered on the list of unsecured creditors was awaiting a payment of $15M from the company’s current owners.
Behind this creditor, a management company, appears the name of Gilbert Rozon, CEO of Just for Laughs, from 1983 to its sale in 2018, for some $65 million. However, payment of this entire sum has not yet been completed; the remaining balance would reach $15M.
Hundreds of creditors
This numbered company is one of hundreds of creditors unwillingly involved in the legal proceedings announced yesterday under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. According to preliminary documents filed in Superior Court, the Just for Laughs Group has debts of some $42 million.
For the moment, the National Bank is the company that appears to have the most to lose from the situation. Its shortfall is approaching $17M, or 40% of the debts accumulated by the comedy group over the years.
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The second largest creditor is the Cultural Enterprise Development Corporation (SODEC), with debts valued at $2.5 million. The Business Development Bank of Canada follows with debts of nearly $2 million.
The debts of these three creditors are guaranteed, which means that they will be repaid as a priority, should the proposal presented to the creditors be accepted.
Atmosphere at the Just for Laughs Festival at Place des Arts, in Montreal, Tuesday, July 25, 2023. JOËL LEMAY/AGENCE QMI
Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
Among the unsecured creditors are, in order of importance of the sums to be repaid, after the company associated with Gilbert Rozon: Cartier Communication Marketing ($720,000), Productions Juste pour lire scène ($670,000), Équipe Spectra ($611,000), AEG Presents Limited ($443,000), the Aréna des Canadiens ($261,000), the Jean Duceppe company ($251,000), Bell Canada ($234,000), Big Yellow Taxi Productions (203 000$) and Deloitte ($133,000).
Income and public assistance
Remember that the Just for Laughs Group was sold, in the wake of the #MeToo movement and lawsuits for sexual harassment and sexual assault against its founder, Gilbert Rozon. The group is today owned by Bell (26%) and Evenko (25%) and the American Creative Artists Agency (49%).
Last February, Bell revealed revenues of $6.47 billion, adjusted operating income of $2.57 billion and net income of $435 million for the fourth quarter of 2023.
Geoff Molson is the owner of Groupe CH.
Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The revenues of Groupe CH, privately owned by the Molson family, which owns the Canadian Hockey Club, the Bell Centre, Evenko and Spectra, among others, are kept confidential.
However, we know that the Canadian was recently valued at $2.5 billion. Evenko purchased two festivals in January (Metro Metro and Fuego Fuego) from businessman Olivier Primeau. A transaction which, it is said, would be around $10M.
The Group of Independent Regional Artistic Festivals (REFRAIN) estimates that the Evenko ecosystem receives $35M annually from governments.
With the collaboration of Raphaël Gendron-Martin and Philippe Langlois.
Just for Laughs board members:
-Geoff Molson
President and CEO of Groupe CH
-Chris Silbermann
Founding partner of ICM Partners, now owned by Creative Artists Agency.
-Suzanne Gouin
Company director, former CEO of TV5 Qc-Canada
-Patricia Brissette
Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs, Canadian Hockey Club, Bell Center and Evenko
-Karine Moses
Vice-President Bell Quebec, and Senior Vice-President Content Development and News, Bell Media
Source: Quebec Business Registrar