Creditors Allege Shady Insider Dealing In Midway Bankruptcy

When mystery man Mark Thomas acquired troubled game publisher Midway for a mere $100,000 last November, the deal raised more than a few eyebrows. It also raised questions like:

• Who is Mark Thomas?
• How could a company which owns popular franchises like Mortal Kombat and TNA Impact! be purchased so cheaply?

A motion filed on behalf of certain Midway creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Friday makes those questions a matter of record and seeks to block the troubled publisher's move to spend collateral which obscure buyer Mark Thomas's Aquisitions Holding Subsidiary (AHS) put up as part of the Midway purchase.

The language of the motion, which seeks to protect the interests of holders of $150 million of senior Midway debt, comes close to alleging fraudulent insider dealing:

These cases... are tainted by highly unusual transactions by insiders of the Debtors... that, to put it charitably, require significant scrutiny... The rights and protections now offered [to AHS] are excessive and, under the circumstances, inappropriate...

The motion also digs into the shadowy relationship between former Midway owner Sumner Redstone (far left) and mysterious purchaser Mark Thomas:

[Midway] was dominated and controlled until November 28, 2008, by Sumner Redstone...

 

As recently as February 29, 2008, [Midway's] balance sheet was far less encumbered by debt... On February 29th, 2008 [Midway took three loans from Redstone-controlled entities]... just like that [Midway's] $15 million in outstanding loan indebtedness... ballooned to $90 million... to [Redstone]...

 

After the consummation of these Insider Loans... the Redstone parties sold for [$100,000] all of their [holdings] to... a very secretive individual named Mark Thomas... a person virtually unknown in the video game industry...

 

No disclosures ever have been made regarding Thomas or what, if any, relationship Thomas or his companies have with any Redstone Party... But it is safe to assume there must be a connection... given that Redstone essentially gifted [Midway for a mere $100,000]... to Thomas...

 

[Thomas stands] to reap an enormous, almost unprecedented windfall... if paid in full... the Thomas Parties will recover some 30,000% on their $100,000 investment within a matter of a few months... The Thomas Parties' return stands in stark contrast to the tens, or potentially even hundreds, of millions of dollars... that the Redstone-Thomas transaction may have stolen from [other creditors]...

Based on such language, it sounds like things could get very ugly, very quickly in the Midway bankruptcy proceedings. With that in mind, GamePolitics turned to Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter for comment on the allegations:

The simple answer is that the unsecured creditors are alleging that the issuance of debt to Redstone secured by collateral was an “insider” deal.  The secured debt has preference over unsecured debt in liquidation, meaning that Redstone’s successor (Thomas) gets paid first.

The filing goes on to allege that when Redstone sold his equity and secured debt to Thomas, the act was a change of ownership, and triggered rules that wiped out tax losses, accelerated default provisions on the unsecured debt, and impaired Midway’s ability to refinance.

The unsecured creditors apparently don’t like the fact that Thomas was a financial buyer, and has full control now.  It is not in Thomas’ best interests to risk his big payday, and the unsecured creditors apparently believe that Thomas is going to force repayment of the debt as accounts receivable are collected.

In substance, they’re saying that Redstone orchestrated this, and they don’t like it.  They are trying to keep Thomas from pulling cash out until they get a chance to reorganize, as that could accelerate and exacerbate Midway’s troubles.

GP: We'll keep GamePolitics readers posted on developments...

DOCUMENT DUMP: Grab a copy of the creditors' motion here.

UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune has a piece on the guessing game surrounding Mark Thomas's identity (via Kotaku).