BERGSTEIN CLAIMS HE WAS SHAFTED IN MIRAMAX DEAL

In the run-up to Disney’s sale of its Miramax division in December 2010, the leading contender in the bidding was referred to in the trade press as the Bergstein group, after film financier David Bergstein who had reportedly put together the consortium that turned out to be the winning bidder at $660 million. Now, in a lawsuit filed on Monday, Bergstein claims that after the deal was completed, he was, in effect, pushed out via the machinations of Richard Nanula, a principal at Colony Capital, the leading voice in the consortium, and a former Disney CFO. “The Miramax transaction is a transaction that I put together myself and had the deal done with Disney before Colony ever came along,” Bergstein told today’s (Tuesday) Daily Variety. “And when they came along we had a very clear agreement in place about what I was to get and everything was signed and done.” Bergstein claims he is owed about $20 million in equity and a deferred transaction fee of $6.1 million that was due when Miramax refinanced.