MoviePass Gets Takeover Offer From Group Led by Former CEO of Parent Company

Ted Farnsworth said Tuesday that he has stepped down from his role as chairman and CEO of MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics and submitted an offer to acquire its assets, including MoviePass, along with its intellectual property, licensing rights, patents and related businesses.

The offer, which will require approval from Helios and Matheson’s board of directors, includes MoviePass, production arm MoviePass Films, film co-acquisition arm MoviePass Ventures, and Moviefone. Financial terms of the bid from an investor group led by Farnsworth weren’t disclosed.

The once influential theater subscription service that offered its users unlimited movies per month for a flat fee of $9.95 last week said it would shut down on Sept. 14.

“I believe there is great unrealized value in MoviePass, and we want to rebuild and make sure it reaches its full potential,” said Farnsworth. “I have always believed in the business model and the brand Mitch Lowe and I built at MoviePass. There’s tremendous appetite for movie theater ticket subscription.”

He added: “Despite the reams of pulp fiction that have been written about MoviePass, we know what went wrong along the way and the many things that went right. After all, we built the fastest-growing subscription business in the history of merchandising, and numerous copycats are out there now trying to capitalize on our model in the theater industry.”

He concluded: “We presided over the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to build MoviePass and its family of companies. We are proud of what we built over the past two years and have no intention of walking away now. I believe in the company’s future and look forward to regaining the confidence of our members and former customers.”

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