Disney calls off talks to sell Miramax

Los Angeles: Disney has called off talks to sell its Indie label Miramax to a consortium that included Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the brothers who founded the Oscar-winning production house, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Disney had been negotiating the $625-million sale of the unit with the group for several weeks.

The Weinsteins, who named Miramax after their immigrant Jewish parents, Max and Miriam, had received financial backing from supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle. But according to the report, the financial structure proposed by the buyers was not to Disney`s liking. Disney has already shuttered most of Miramax`s production capacity and wants to sell the unit as it does not tie in well with the company`s other family-friendly subsidiaries such as Pixar and Marvel. Miramax`s value comes from its ownership of films like Shakespeare in Love and Pulp Fiction. The end of negotiations with the Weinsteins allows Disney to pursue alternative deals, including an offer from a billionaire investor brothers Tom and Alec Gores. IANS