Fireworks Entertainment Secures Credit Facility

On October 18, 2002, Fireworks Entertainment Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CanWest Entertainment Inc., secured a $172 million stand-alone corporate credit facility from a syndicate led by Comerica Bank-California. The facility provides Fireworks, and its co-borrower, CanWest Entertainment International Distribution (a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of Fireworks), with the independent capacity to finance future growth including the development, production, acquisition and distribution of new television and feature film properties.

The lending syndicate was led by Comerica Bank-California as administrative agent and fronting bank; Comerica Bank-Canada as Canadian facility agent; and West LB AG, as syndication agent. The lenders were Comerica Bank-California, Comerica Bank-Canada, West LB AG in New York, Vereins- und Westbank, GE Capital Corp., The Bank of Nova Scotia and US Bank National Association.

CanWest Entertainment, Fireworks and their subsidiaries were represented by Heenan Blaikie LLP in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, with a team that included Allen Garson, Jennifer Good and Maneli Badii (corporate/entertainment), Jim Russell, Ken Dhaliwal and Eva Schmieg (entertainment), Peter Clark and Norm Bacal (tax) and Tom Cotter (corporate). Fireworks was represented in-house by its business and legal affairs group, consisting of Steve Pasternak, general counsel; Greg Gilhooly, vice-president, operations; and Rich Rapowski, counsel.

In the U.S., Fireworks was represented by Howard Behar and Steve Kalb of Proskauer Rose LLP, in Los Angeles; by Walter Tuthill and Sean Day of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnel in Delaware; and by Mark Goldstein of Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas.

CanWest Global Communications Corp. was represented by Richard Pratt and Deborah Salter of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, and by in-house general counsel Richard Leipsic. In Ireland, CanWest Entertainment International Distribution was represented by Carol Drury, Karen Pearson, and James Somerville (tax) of A&L Goodbody in Dublin.

Comerica Bank-California was represented in Canada by Carolyn Stamegna, Hilary Goldstein, Susan Clarke and Kathryn Ceroni of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, and in the U.S. by Michael Sherman and Thomas Greenberg of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP in Los Angeles.