Lions Gate UK Limited (formerly Redbus Film Distribution, and briefly known as Helkon SK between 2001 and 2003) is the British subsidiary of the American film company, Lionsgate Studios.
In October 2005, Lionsgate acquired Redbus and rebranded it under its current name. Its home media company, Redbus Home Entertainment, would also rebrand as Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK. Redbus's film releases were formerly distributed on home video by Warner Home Video until 2006.[3]
History
Redbus Film Distribution was formed in 1999. According to an investment prospectus filed in March 1999, it was funded to the tune of £250,000, and took its name from Cliff Stanford's Redbus Group SA.[4]
The prospectus stated that its goals were to co-produce and distribute 10-12 full length feature films annually to the cinema, video and television markets in the UK.
On 14 March 2000, Redbus made a deal with German media company Helkon Media AG to acquire film rights for both of the companies' respective regions.[5] Helkon would later purchase a majority stake in the company in October of the same year.[6] However, their failure to pay one-half of the first $16 million (£11,954,176.00) installation would lead to Stanford suing the company. Helkon would quickly pay the other half, leading to the lawsuit being dropped and their final acquisition of Redbus.[7][8] Following this, Redbus changed its name to Helkon SK, to reflect their partnership with Helkon Media.[9]
On 4 August 2002, Helkon Media filed for insolvency, leading to Franks and Kamasa buying back full ownership of the company.[10][11] The company officially rebranded back to Redbus on 6 May 2003, and was also restructured, with Franks running the core distribution company and Kamasa in charge of a new production arm.[12] All of Helkon's ownership was finally absolved in February 2005.[13]
On 17 October 2005, Lionsgate acquired Redbus Film Distribution for $35 million.[14][15] and became Lionsgate UK on 23 February 2006.[16][17]
