An Atlanta-based company that owns salvage rights and artifacts from the wreck of the RMS Titanic filed a Chapter 11 reorganization petition Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Jacksonville.
Premier Exhibitions Inc. and several subsidiaries, including RMS Titanic Inc., filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida seeking to reorganize its debts and continue its business.
Premier is a publicly traded company that provides “museum quality touring exhibitions,” according to its case management summary filed in bankruptcy court.
The company owns exclusive rights to recover artifacts from the wreck of the Titanic, which sunk in 1912, and it owns about 5,500 Titanic artifacts, it said.
The court documents put the unappraised value of the Titanic artifacts at $18 million.
While the case management summary does not list this as a reason for its financial difficulties, Premier has been hurt by a 2011 federal court decision in Virginia that severely restricted its right to sell its Titanic artifacts, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Besides the Titanic, Premier has been producing shows on other subjects including “The Discovery of King Tut” and “Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition.”
The Saturday Night Live exhibit is listed as a contributing factor to its Chapter 11 filing. Premier said the show opened in New York on May 30, 2015, but was “incredibly unprofitable” and closed on June 5, 2016.
In a news release, Premier said “the burden of the company’s lease in New York City and other legacy business issues remain obstacles to the company’s ability to conduct business.”
It decided the bankruptcy filing was in the best interests of all stakeholders.
“Operating under the protection of Chapter 11 will provide the company’s most important vendors with assurances that they will be paid. Further, the company intends to create a restructuring plan that should allow Premier to emerge as a stronger business,” it said.
Jacksonville attorney Daniel Blanks of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP filed the Chapter 11 petition for Premier.
Blanks said the company filed the case in Jacksonville because although Premier’s offices are in Atlanta, it and some of its subsidiaries are incorporated in Florida.
Premier has not filed its 2015 year-end financial reports with the SEC. Its most recent filing estimated revenue of $20.2 million and a net loss before taxes of $11.6 million for the first nine months of 2015.
Premier’s stock was delisted from Nasdaq in February and now trades on the OTCQB marketplace.
The stock, which traded at a high of $5.40 in April 2015, had already fallen to 37 cents at Tuesday’s close, before the Chapter 11 filing. It fell as low as 13 cents Wednesday.