French animation outfit Cyber Group Studios will be liquidated, according to a ruling by the Paris Commercial Court. This means that none of the sale bids from various outfits that were on the table over the past few months will go through. The studio’s assets will now have to be sold off to pay the studio’s creditors, according to an exclusive report by French trade publication, Ecran Total.
Cyber Group, which is best known for popular animated properties such as Gigantosaurus, Zou, Alex Player, Zorro: The Chronicles, Taffy and Press Start, had been in judicial recovery for insolvent French companies since November. The court had noted that the studio had a six-month window until April 30, 2025 to either recover financially or completely liquidate in order to repay its creditors. Despite having four takeover offers from Hildegarde, Solent Productions, Newen Studios and a joint venture between United Smile, Toonz Media Group and Atlas Global, the court to liquidate Cyber Group instead. Among the studio’s biggest assets were its popular Gigantosaurus IP and an upcoming animated show based on Square Enix’s Final Fantasy IX game.
Christine Blériot, who worked at Cyber Group from 2004 to 2013 as international SVP of marketing and licensing, and who consulted with Solent on its bid, criticized the court’s decision on LinkedIn. “Having contributed for nine years in developing, alongside its management and staff, the studio’s expertise and its children’s catalog, I am shocked by this hasty liquidation, even though a potential buyer, Solent (for whom I was carrying out a consulting assignment), had contacted the court since December 24th, with a specific offer supported by the CEO and employees of CGS. So, at the very least, we could have hoped that this offer would be considered, right? An incomprehensible waste! Financing in animation is complex and cannot be compared to any other economic sector except video games.I hope the teams will find new assignments soon.”
Cyber Group Studios also held a majority ownership stake in U.K.-based A Productions. However, the Bristol-based studio is not entering into liquidation alongside Cyber Group. In a statement, Katherine McQueen and Mark Taylor, joint managing directors of A Productions, said: “As an independently run studio, A Productions continues to be in a secure financial position with a robust pipeline of shows and a bright future ahead. We are actively seeking the reacquisition of the proportion of our shares held by Cyber Group Studios to return to 100% independent ownership and hope to conclude this as soon as possible.”
Cyber Group Studios (formerly Cyber Group Animation), which was founded by Pierre Sissmann, Dominique Bourse, Billy “Frédéric” Richard, Olivier Lelardoux and Cécilia Bosselin in 2003, produced a wide range of 3D and 2D animated TV shows, games and movies. On November 7, 2024, Cyber Group Studios announced that it had entered the judicial recovery process from insolvency.
Sources: Ecran Total, Le Film Francais
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