The saga of the Koelmel brothers' bid to take over the core activities of their insolvent Kinowelt Medien empire has taken yet another, dramatic twist.

Insolvency administrator Wolfgang Ott has issued the Sparkasse Leipzig with an ultimatum to transfer the purchase price of Euros 32m by November 27 at the latest.

Ott announced on Friday (Nov 22) that he asked the bank on November 8 and 14 to inform him whether their pledge from August 5 to finance the takeover by Neue Spielfilm Vertriebs- und Marketing GmbH continued to hold.

"If the confirmation by Sparkasse Leipzig is not provided within the set deadline, I will make use of the agreed right of withdrawal. We owe it to our business partners and staff after the considerable turbulence of the recent weeks and months to bring calm and reliability to the operative activities of the Kinowelt Medien Group."

Ott explained that, "in the eventuality of a withdrawal from the purchase agreement, the operative business will continue in Munich and further steps have already been discussed with the creditor committee. These will be made known in due course."

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Ott has also been appointed as insolvency administrator for Munich-based distributor Scotia Film who filed for insolvency a month ago.