Screen Capital International Corp. v. Library Asset Acquisition Co. (In re ThinkFilm, LLC)

510 B.R. 266, 2014 WL 1660033, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59549
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedApril 25, 2014
DocketNo. CV 13-5576 PSG; Bankruptcy No. 10-19912-BR; Adversary No. 12-1600-BR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 510 B.R. 266 (Screen Capital International Corp. v. Library Asset Acquisition Co. (In re ThinkFilm, LLC)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Screen Capital International Corp. v. Library Asset Acquisition Co. (In re ThinkFilm, LLC), 510 B.R. 266, 2014 WL 1660033, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59549 (C.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

[269]*269Proceedings: (In Chambers) Order AFFIRMING in Part and REVERSING and REMANDING in Part Bankruptcy Court’s Order Granting Library Asset Acquisition Company’s Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint

PHILIP S. GUTIERREZ, District Judge.

Before the Court is an appeal from bankruptcy matter In re ThinkFilm, LLC, USBC No. 2:10-bk19912-BR. Dkt. # l.1 In this appeal, Plaintiff Screen Capital International Corp. (“SCIC” or “Appellant”) challenges a July 17, 2013 Order from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California (“Bankruptcy Court”) granting Defendant Library Asset Acquisition Company, Ltd.’s (“LAAC”) Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”). The Court finds the appeal appropriate for decision without oral argument. Fed.R.Civ.P. 78(b); L.R. 7-15. After considering the papers filed in support and opposition, the Court AFFIRMS in part and REVERSES and REMANDS in part the Bankruptcy Court’s July 17, 2013 Order granting LAAC’s Motion to Dismiss.

I. Background

SCIC brings these actions against TFC Library, LLC (“TFC”), LAAC, and Zelus, LLC (“Zelus”), pursuant to a stipulation transferring standing from the Chapter 11 Trustee of the bankruptcy estates of the Debtors (“Trustee”) to SCIC. AOB at 4; SAC ¶ 8.2 SCIC’s claims in this action arise from an alleged conspiracy by David Berg-stein (“Bergstein”) and Ronald Tutor (“Tutor”), the Members and Managers of R2D2, to “strip R2D2 and its affiliates of any and all assets of value before the creditors notice[d] and the companies collapsed.” SAC 1HI2-3. As part of this alleged conspiracy, R2D2 created a set of co-conspiring companies, including LAAC, and moved assets between these companies “without regard to creditors’ rights in such assets, and at all times by keeping creditors guessing as to where their source of recovery might lie.... ” Id. ¶ 3. Specifically, SCIC alleges that Bergstein and Tutor executed a grand scheme designed to:

(1) have the Debtors borrow or guarantee over $100 million in debt and utilize large amounts of loan funds to pay the personal expenses of insiders ... (2) transfer the underlying collateral (the TFC Library)[3] away from the Debtors, and (3) acquire the underlying debt and foreclose on the TFC Library, all for the benefit of the other insiders and to the detriment of legitimate third-party creditors.

AOB at 5; see SAC ¶ 43-44. The Court summarizes the relevant parts of this alleged conspiracy below.

Between January 2006 and February 2008, “one or more of the Debtors” obtained a series of loans (“Zwirn Loans”) [270]*270from entities related to D.B. Zwirn, a New York hedge fund (“Zwirn”). SAC ¶23. These loans included approximately $45 million in loans made by Zwirn to Think-Film and unspecified “affiliated entities” (the “ThinkFilm Loans”). Id. Bergstein and Tutor executed various guarantees on these loans. Id. ¶¶ 23-26. Bergstein and Tutor then restricted the Zwirn Loans “so that their liens were worth acquiring with Tutor’s money, then caus[ed] enough distress to Zwirn that they sold the Zwirn Loans at an attractive price....” Id. ¶ 28. Then, from March to July 2008, Zwirn entered into a series of “Global Amendments” with CT-1, ThinkFilm, and certain affiliated entities (“Borrowers”). Id. SCIC alleges that these Global Amendments were intended to ensure that all of the Borrowers would default under the Zwirn loans, and thus to lay the foundation for Bergstein and Tutor’s plot to foreclose on the Borrowers’ assets. Id.

SCIC alleges that as the first phase of their alleged “conspiracy,” Bergstein and Tutor drafted — and backdated — an Asset Purchase Agreement (“APA”), which transferred the rights in the films within the TFC Library from a number of “Sellers” and unnamed “Seller Affiliates” to TFC.4 SAC ¶¶ 45-46, Ex. 2. In exchange for these transfers, the parties to the October 24, 2008 APA agreed on an aggregate purchase price of $46.5 million, comprised of a minimum cash amount of $500,000 and the assumption by TFC of the Sellers’ liabilities, including their debt obligations under the ThinkFilm Loans. Id. ¶ 62, Ex 2 at § 2.4.

SCIC also alleges that LAAC entered into a Note Purchase and Sale Agreement (“NPA”) on March 12, 2009, in which LAAC agreed to purchase all of the Zwirn loans from Zwirn for $108 million. Id. ¶ 63. However, the NPA was amended so that LAAC only purchased: (1) the BWT Loans, which were defined in the NPA; and (2) the ThinkFilm Loans and all related rights and collateral, including the TFC Library. Id. ¶ 69.

Based on this alleged conspiracy, SCIC filed this adversary proceeding on behalf of ThinkFilm’s bankruptcy estate, against TFC, LAAC, and Zelus. See AOB at 4. On July 17, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court granted LAAC’s Motion to Dismiss the SAC. 2 ER 7. SCIC’s claims for disallowance and equitable subordination were dismissed without prejudice, but the Bankruptcy Court ordered that SCIC could only pursue these two claims through a motion filed in accordance with Bankruptcy Rule 3007(a) and 9014, rather than through an adversary proceeding. 2 ER 7, at 453. The Bankruptcy Court also dismissed SCIC’s claims for avoidance and recovery of fraudulent transfers and injunction as to the films within the FPLAC and Zoopraxis Libraires; these claims could only proceed as to specific film titles outside of these Libraries. 2 ER 7, at 453, 460-63.

SCIC now appeals the Bankruptcy Court’s dismissal of its claims for: (1) avoidance and recovery of the fraudulent transfer of rights to the TFC Library, as to the FPLAC and Zoopraxis Libraries; (2) avoidance and recovery of the preferential transfer of rights to the TFC Library; (3) turnover of books and records; (4) an accounting; (5) declaratory judgment; (6) injunctive relief, as to the FPLAC and Zoopraxis Libraries; and (7) recharacteri-zation of LAAC’s debt (collectively, the “Dismissed Claims”). AOB at 2; see generally SAC. SCIC also challenges the Bankruptcy Court’s (a) holding that the [271]*271Appealing Debtors’ equitable subordination claims can only be brought pursuant to a motion, (b) factual determinations in segregating the films within the TFC Library into three distinct sub-libraries, and (c) denial of leave to amend the Dismissed Claims. AOB at 27-30.

II. Jurisdiction

The Bankruptcy Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 157(b)(1). This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1). In relevant part, 28 U.S.C. § 158(a) provides: “The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to hear appeals ... from final judgments, orders, and decrees.” 28 U.S.C. § 158(a).

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510 B.R. 266, 2014 WL 1660033, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/screen-capital-international-corp-v-library-asset-acquisition-co-in-re-cacd-2014.