Ame Inc

Behind the scenes of movies and TV shows, tucked away in nondescript buildings within striking distance of Hollywood studios, are the companies that turn film into video, edit the tapes, mix in sound and perform a variety of other post-production services. The industry, which boomed during the borrow-and-spend mania of the '80s, is seeing its numbers shrink under the harsh realities of the '90s. Two Burbank companies, AME Inc.

AME Inc., a leading provider of post-production services for movie and television studios, said Friday that its founder and chairman, Andrew M. McIntyre, dropped his bid to acquire the company for $37 million. McIntyre pulled the offer because he was unable to get financing "on satisfactory terms," AME said. The Burbank concern did not elaborate on the financing question, and McIntyre was not available to comment.

Behind the scenes of movies and TV shows, tucked away in nondescript buildings within striking distance of Hollywood studios, are the companies that turn film into video, edit the tapes, mix in sound and perform a variety of other post-production services. It's a business that tugs at a technophile's heartstrings, but it's also one that endured the borrow-and-spend mania of the '80s only to find itself facing the harsher '90s realities. Two Burbank companies, AME Inc.

AME Inc. in Burbank has a potential buyer, which would enable the video post-production firm to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Image Technology Acquisition Corp. has offered $12 million for AME, according to John W. Hyde, AME's bankruptcy trustee. Hyde has recommended that the court approve the offer, which was made in a filing at federal Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles last week.

AME Inc. still hopes to find a buyer even though the video post-production concern is now reorganizing under the auspices of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Burbank-based company, struggling under a heavy debt load, last week sought protection from its creditors by filing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws. Under Chapter 11, a company keeps operating while it works out a plan to pay its bills. AME has been struggling since 1989, when an investor group bought the company for $108.

Prospective Buyers Line Up for AME Inc.: The Burbank video post-production concern, seeking a buyer because of heavy debt, is weighing nine takeover offers, President Jan Yarbrough said. He declined to identify bidders, but the Hollywood Reporter said they include Tricor Entertainment, Ediflex Systems and Laser Pacific Media. AME incurred much of its debt in an investor group's $57-million leveraged buyout in 1989.

AME Inc. in Burbank, once Hollywood's biggest video post-production firm, has been sold for $18.2 million, effectively ending a year in bankruptcy reorganization. The top bid came from a group led by Larry Kingen, a former AME president who started a rival company in Burbank called All Post Inc. Kingen was backed by Westar Capital, a Costa Mesa investment firm that put up most of the money for the purchase last week at a hearing in U. S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.

A New York venture-capital firm, Steinhardt Partners, has emerged as the high bidder for Burbank-based AME Inc., offering about $12 million for the video post-production company that is operating under the protection of bankruptcy court, according to published reports. John Hyde, AME's court-appointed trustee, said Monday that other bids topping the $12-million offer are still possible. An investor group paid $108.5 million to take AME private in 1989, mostly with leveraged or borrowed funds.

AME Inc. in Burbank has a potential buyer, which would enable the video post-production firm to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Image Technology Acquisition Corp. has offered $12 million for AME, according to John W. Hyde, AME's bankruptcy trustee. Hyde has recommended that the court approve the offer, which was made in a filing at federal Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles last week.

John W. Hyde isn't a name you'll find on movie marquees. But without him, some Hollywood studios and distributors might now be absent from your local theater too. Hyde, a modestly successful movie and television producer since the 1960s, is becoming the industry's best-known financial doctor for studios, distribution firms, video post-production houses and other film-related concerns that have sunk into bankruptcy court.

AME Inc. still hopes to find a buyer even though the video post-production concern is now reorganizing under the auspices of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Burbank-based company, struggling under a heavy debt load, last week sought protection from its creditors by filing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws. Under Chapter 11, a company keeps operating while it works out a plan to pay its bills. AME has been struggling since 1989, when an investor group bought the company for $108.

AME Seeks Bankruptcy Protection: AME Inc., a leading provider of video post-production services for Hollywood studios, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Burbank-based company has been hobbled by debt since 1989, when an investor group bought it for $108.5 million in a leveraged buyout. In its filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, AME listed assets of $41 million and debts of $124 million. The filing came after AME failed to find someone to buy it.

A New York venture-capital firm, Steinhardt Partners, has emerged as the high bidder for Burbank-based AME Inc., offering about $12 million for the video post-production company that is operating under the protection of bankruptcy court, according to published reports. John Hyde, AME's court-appointed trustee, said Monday that other bids topping the $12-million offer are still possible. An investor group paid $108.5 million to take AME private in 1989, mostly with leveraged or borrowed funds.

Want a prime example of how the corporate leveraged-buyout craze went overboard in the late 1980s? Look no further than Burbank, home of AME Inc. AME, built by founder Andrew M. McIntyre into the largest video post-production house serving Hollywood's studios, went private in 1989 when an investor group bought the company for $108.5 million--most of it leveraged, or borrowed.