Onsight’s post-production business has been sold in a pre-pack administration deal to a new company that has chief executive Simon Craddock as a director.

Covent Garden Post Production, renamed Onsight Limited and backed by debt finance and private equity firm Resolve Invest, bought the post-production assets, goodwill and trading name on 16 December through administrators Andrew Pear and Michael Solomons of BM Advisory.

Resolve Invest owns more than 75% of the new Onsight, while Craddock, along with post-production supervisor Rik Tester and head of development Tony Maher, are shareholders.

The company’s 24 post-production staff were transferred to the new firm under TUPE regulations.

Onsight is now trading as a post-only facility, with its former camera rental division closed and its kit inventory, which is still an asset of the old company (OS Realisations, also previously known as Onsight Limited), due to be sold off at auction.

Onsight’s camera rental division employed six people. It was put up for sale in the second half of 2016 but no buyer was found. Its editing equipment rental department was sold to Hireworks in early 2016.

Speaking to Broadcast, Craddock said: “The post part of the business has continued to work on cutting-edge content in UHD, Giant Screen and VR. The camera division has had less attention recently, hence why the company had been marketing it for sale for several months last year.

“These efforts to find a purchaser took much longer than anticipated and, as a result, had a material negative effect on the cash flow of the overall company.”

Craddock added that the new business is “trading well and hitting targets” and that “On Sight will continue in the form it was originally conceived, as a specialist, boutique post production business.”

The camera rental kit auction, which is being conducted by Lambert, Smith and Hampton, will continue until 23 February.

Unsecured creditors are waiting to find out if they will receive any money from OS Realisations.

Topics