UPDATE Mar 6. DEAL IS DEAD. Maria Contreras-Sweet, Obama SBA Head, Announces Investor Purchase Of The Weinstein Company

Maria Contreras-Sweet, Obama SBA Head, Announces Investor Purchase Of The Weinstein Company

Updated Tues. evening Mar. 6: Never Mind: $500 Million Deal to Save the Weinstein Company Is Kaput Vanity Fair

Maria Contreras-Sweet announced Thursday afternoon that an investor group lead by herself and billionaire Ron Burkle reached a deal to buy The Weinstein Company. The complex and infuriating negotiations to reach a deal that kept TWC from not having to declare bankruptcy even included New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who ended up acting as a necessary mediator, given the complexity of TWC's legal problems. 

In a statement Schneiderman said:  "As part of these negotiations, we are pleased to have received express commitments from the parties that the new company will create a real, well-funded victims' compensation fund, implement HR policies that will protect all employees, and will not unjustly reward bad actors. We will work with the parties in the weeks ahead to ensure that the parties honor and memorialize these commitments prior to closing."

Contreras-Sweet, who served as 24th Administrator of the Small Business Administration in the Obama Administration, and Burkle organized the group of investors who are putting up $500 million to buy the once-powerful indie film and television production company founded by Weinstein and his brother, Bob in 2005.