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37_49 | New York Times. The company was also known for paying its actors high salaries, a practice which |
37_50 | made it unpopular with other theatre producers (who, unlike Livent, typically negotiated actors' |
37_51 | compensation through the League of American Theaters and Producers). |
37_52 | As early as 1994, commentators noted Livent's unusual accounting practices. Livent amortized the |
37_53 | pre-production costs of its musicals over a five-year period (as long as the production continued |
37_54 | to run), rather than reporting them immediately. This was a legal accounting practice, but aroused |
37_55 | suspicion from insiders because it was "unheard of" in the theatre industry. In 1994, Livent kept |
37_56 | its Broadway production of Kiss of the Spider Woman open for several months after it had ceased to |
37_57 | cover its weekly operating costs. It was widely believed that this was done in order to delay |
37_58 | reporting the production's loss on the company's balance sheet, though Drabinsky disputed this. |
37_59 | Industry insiders also noted that Livent did not include advertising costs when reporting the cost |
37_60 | of a show, and that they included group sales when reporting ticket sales figures. Both practices |
37_61 | were out of step with the norm among Broadway producers. |
37_62 | Decline and fall |
37_63 | On April 13, 1998, Garth Drabinsky stepped down as CEO, and was replaced by Michael Ovitz, former |
37_64 | president of the Walt Disney Company, who had spent US$20 million for a controlling stake of |
37_65 | Livent. On August 10, Livent announced they had discovered serious 'accounting irregularities', and |
37_66 | would need to release revised earnings statements going back to 1996. While the irregularities were |
37_67 | being investigated, Drabinsky and Gottlieb were suspended as employees, and trading of Livent's |
37_68 | stock temporarily ceased. On November 18, 1998, Livent released corrected financial statements for |
37_69 | 1996 through the second quarter of 1998, showing that their debts were greater than their assets. |
37_70 | The same day, they filed for US bankruptcy protection in a Manhattan court. The company's stock |
37_71 | resumed trading November 20, plummeting to a share price of 50 cents from its previous price of |
37_72 | Can$10.15 when trading was halted. In August 1999, Livent's assets were sold off to American |
37_73 | company SFX Entertainment for an estimated US$97 million. |
37_74 | Subsequent events |
37_75 | Insolvency proceedings |
37_76 | In November 1998, Livent sought bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada, claiming a debt of $334 |
37_77 | million. |
37_78 | In April 2014, Livent's special receiver obtained judgment against Deloitte & Touche LLP for |
37_79 | $84,750,000 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, in relation to Deloitte's failure to exercise |
37_80 | its duty of care with respect to the audit of Livent's financial statements during 19931998. The |
37_81 | ruling was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal in January 2016, but in December 2017, the Supreme |
37_82 | Court of Canada in Deloitte & Touche v Livent Inc (Receiver of) allowed an appeal in part, |
37_83 | declaring that liability existed only in respect of Deloitte's negligence in conducting the audit |
37_84 | for Livent's 1997 fiscal year, and accordingly reduced the amount of damages awarded to |
37_85 | $40,425,000. |
37_86 | Criminal proceedings |
37_87 | In January, 1999, Livent's former chairman Garth Drabinsky and president Myron Gottlieb were |
37_88 | indicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges they |
37_89 | personally misappropriated $4.6 million in company funds and "cooked the books" to hide enormous |
37_90 | losses from investors. Arrest warrants are outstanding with respect to the US criminal proceedings, |
37_91 | but double jeopardy rules prevent US extradition proceedings from taking place, because of the |
37_92 | conviction in Canadian courts. |
37_93 | On March 25, 2009, Drabinsky and Gottlieb were found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario |
37_94 | Superior Court for misstating the company's financial statements between 1993 and 1998. On August |
37_95 | 5, 2009, Drabinsky and Gottlieb were sentenced to jail terms of seven and six years, respectively. |
37_96 | Drabinsky filed an appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal with respect to his sentence on September |
37_97 | 3, 2009. During that appeal, he remained free on bail. On September 13, 2011, the Court of Appeal, |
37_98 | while upholding the convictions, reduced Drabinsky's sentence to 5 years. Drabinsky appealed to the |
37_99 | Supreme Court of Canada, and the application was dismissed without costs on March 29, 2012. |
37_100 | Drabinsky was originally held at Millhaven Institution for assessment. In December 2011, he was |
37_101 | transferred to serve out his sentence at Beaver Creek Institution, a minimum security prison, |
37_102 | located in Gravenhurst, Ontario, and was released on day parole in February 2013. Drabinsky was |
37_103 | granted full parole on January 20, 2014, and completed his sentence in September 2016. |
37_104 | Civil proceedings |
37_105 | In 2005, former investors in Livent corporate bonds won a $23.3 million settlement against |
37_106 | Drabinsky and Gottlieb in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, |
37_107 | for which enforcement of the judgment was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2008, but the |
37_108 | judgment was still unpaid in 2012. |
37_109 | Regulatory proceedings |
37_110 | In January 1999, Livent reached an administrative settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange |
37_111 | Commission, while civil and criminal proceedings were simultaneously pursued against Drabinsky, |
37_112 | Gottlieb and certain other former Livent employees. |
37_113 | Administrative proceedings were initiated against Livent, Drabinsky and others by the Ontario |
37_114 | Securities Commission in 2001, and they were suspended in 2002 until all outstanding criminal |
37_115 | proceedings had been completed. In February 2013, the OSC announced that proceedings were to be |
37_116 | withdrawn against Livent and another party, and that hearings would take place on March 19, 2013, |
37_117 | in the remainder of the matter. Myron Gottlieb and Gordon Eckstein, who were other parties in the |
37_118 | proceedings, subsequently entered into settlement agreements with the OSC in September 2014 and May |
37_119 | 2015 respectively. |
37_120 | in 2017, the Ontario Securities Commission permanently banned Drabinsky from becoming a director or |
37_121 | officer of any public company in Ontario. The OSC also prohibited him from acting as an investment |
37_122 | promoter, and banned him from trading securities (other than as a retail investor, for trades |
37_123 | within his RRSP or through a registered dealer for accounts in his name only). |
37_124 | Notes
References
External links
Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia - Livent |
37_125 | Accounting scandals
Entertainment companies established in 1989
1989 establishments in Ontario |
37_126 | Entertainment companies disestablished in 1999
1999 disestablishments in Ontario |
37_127 | Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada |
37_128 | Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1998
Theatre companies in Toronto |
37_129 | Theatre production companies
Fraud in Canada |
38_0 | Shinji Kagawa ( Kagawa Shinji ; born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays |
38_1 | as a midfielder for Belgian First Division A club Sint-Truiden and the Japan national team. He is |
38_2 | widely regarded as one of the best Japanese players of all time. Kagawa began his professional |
38_3 | career in his homeland with Cerezo Osaka before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2010. After two years |
38_4 | with Dortmund, Kagawa signed for Manchester United on a four-year contract. Two years later, he |
38_5 | returned to Dortmund. Kagawa holds the records for most appearances and goals by a Japanese player |
38_6 | in UEFA club competitions. |
38_7 | Since making his senior international debut in May 2008, he has won over 90 caps and scored over 30 |
38_8 | goals. On 29 November 2012, Kagawa was named Asian Football Confederation International Player of |
38_9 | the Year. |
38_10 | Club career |
38_11 | Kagawa was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. He started playing football at the age of five. He |
38_12 | joined Marino Football Club from 1994 to 1999, Kobe NK Football Club from 1999 to 2001, and FC |
38_13 | Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai from 2001 to 2005. |
38_14 | Cerezo Osaka |
38_15 | Cerezo Osaka noticed his talent and signed him at the age of 17. He was the first player in Japan |
38_16 | to sign a professional contract before graduating from high school, except players promoted from |
38_17 | youth teams of the J.League clubs. In 2007, he gained a regular position but the club missed |
38_18 | promotion to the J.League Division 1. It was in 2009 that he became the top scorer of J.League |
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