Monet Painting Sale: Debt, Bankruptcy, and Auction?

Debt and Potential Auction

The Monet– held with Weiss’s GW Crown Holdings LLC– is being offered to cover $123 million in debt owed to Financial institution of America. While a buyer has been aligned, the sale stays based on certified quotes and, if needed, a public auction at the Miami offices of the law practice Venable LLP.

The painting, gauging 53 ⅛ by 57 1/2 inches, is slated to be cost $36.5 million to an unnamed buyer stood for by attorney Jennifer Morris, pending authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Bankruptcy Filing Details

Weiss filed for personal bankruptcy in June, a number of months after a government judge ruled that he was accountable for even more than $100 million in debt connected to his hedge fund, Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, which owes that sum to Jefferies Strategic Investments. In his own request, Weiss additionally listed a $180 million case from the Internal Earnings Service, which he is disputing.

In a limited argument filed Friday, Jefferies asked the court to oblige Weiss to reveal the identification of the prospective buyer. The firm indicated the sale of another comparable Monet “Water Lilies” painting– Nymphéas (1914– 17), which once belong to Sydell Miller– for $65.5 million at a Sotheby’s night sale last November after 17-minute bidding process battle. Jefferies said that Weiss needs to be required to prove that the buyer “is not an insider and has not directly or indirectly agreed to supply factor to consider (besides customary brokerage firm charges) to any kind of event apart from the debtor.”