The
bidders sent out a statement saying, "The Weinstein brothers, The Weinstein Co. and Ron Burkle are all working towards a deal to purchase and operate Miramax."
Discussions were being slowed, mainly because of problems securing the Weinstein brothers as the company's managers, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The Los Angeles Times reported earlier the talks had fallen apart.
Disney had been negotiating exclusively since mid-April with Burkle, a 57-year-old supermarket mogul, to sell him the niche movie label for about $625 million. Hopes were high that a deal could be announced during the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France.
With the closing ceremony at Cannes just two days away, it looks increasingly likely that Harvey and Bob Weinstein would be left without a deal to announce at the event.
Sticky relations between the Weinsteins and the movie studio they founded in 2005, The Weinstein Co., also were holding up the deal, the people familiar with the matter said.
Unresolved issues include how much time the Weinsteins will devote to Miramax, which they founded and then sold to Disney for $80 million in 1993, and how The Weinstein Co. would benefit from the arrangement.
Cracks in the relationship appeared last month, when Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a Weinstein Co. investor, told Bloomberg News he had an issue with the studio amid widely reported talks of the Weinsteins' involvement in a Miramax deal.
