Crown Media Library Adams Respiratory Therapeutics  Rysher Entertainment  Quinnova  Fireworks Entertainment  ClearOrbit / SigmaTrak

Fireworks Entertainment Situation Fireworks Entertainment Inc. was a wholly-owned subsidiary of CanWest Global Communications Corp., a publicly-traded Canadian broadcaster, and was engaged in the feature film and television production and distribution business for seven years between 1998 and 2005. In 2003, Fireworks eliminated its international feature film sales force and sublicensed many of its major films to Paramount for international distribution. One of the largest components of value of the Fireworks library was its interests in certain feature films distributed by Paramount in the domestic market. Fireworks generally distributed these pictures on a pre-sale basis in the international marketplace. Subsequent to the sublicensing, the information that Paramount provided to CanWest regarding the features was relatively sparse. Salem Partners' Role Salem Partners was engaged in 2003 to conduct several detailed valuation analyses of the Fireworks library, including a wide variety of television and feature film titles. Salem Partners obtained a comprehensive understanding of Paramount's future licenses for the major Fireworks features, including licenses generated through output deals, and defined the value of the features with a high degree of specificity. In 2004 CanWest requested that Salem Partners seek a potential acquiror for Fireworks.  Salem Partners was able to identify a potential buyer of the Fireworks pictures with a financial partner that funded 100% of the acquisition value based on the strength of the Salem Partners projections.