Film/Video: Live Entertainment and Carolco Pictures, two...

Film/Video: Live Entertainment and Carolco Pictures, two closely tied companies, are merging in a deal that will give Live shareholders up to 29% of the new entity. Carolco once held as much as 53% of Live, but the shares were turned over to Carolco investors Pioneer, Italy’s RCS Video and Canal Plus as part of a financial bailout. Those investors now own 42% of Carolco’s voting stock and 56% of Live’s voting shares. Carolco is the producer of such films as “Cliffhanger.” Live is best known as a distributor of home videos. Mario Kassar will serve as chairman of the new company, to be called Carolco Entertainment Inc. Separately, Live will seek a buyer for a specialty retail chain and a German video distribution company, which will result in a onetime loss of $30 million.