Former Lions Gate executives Brad Pelman and Laurie May acquired the business through a management buyout financed by RBC Royal Bank Media and Entertainment Group and have created a new Canadian independent distributor, Maple Pictures Corp. Lions Gate spokesman Peter Wilkes said his company spun off its Canadian distribution arm to reduce its overhead while retaining a minority stake in a business run by executives it knows and trusts. The management buyout follows a 2003 decision by Canada's largest independent film distributor, Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., to spin off a 49% stake in its movie distribution business in order to help reduce its debt load.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.