Premier Exhibitions

Premier Exhibitions Inc (otc expert: PRXIQ) is an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that organizes traveling exhibitions. As of January 2019, the company owned 5,500 Titanic relics with approximately 1,300 on display in various countries.[1]

Its two most prominent exhibits are artifacts from the RMS Titanic and Bodies: The Exhibition in which it displays cadavers arranged in lifelike poses via plastination from the Dalian Medical University (through its Dalian Medical University Plastination Company subsidiary)[2] in China. It has multiple exhibits of both Bodies and Titanic running at the same time in different venues. In 2008, it entered into a 10-year lease for more than 36000 sqft at the Luxor Las Vegas for exhibits of Titanic and Bodies there.[3] By 2013, more than 25 million people had visited the company's Titanic exhibits in Orlando, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and elsewhere.[4]

In May 2015 the company opened Premier on 5th,[5] a flagship exhibition space on Fifth Avenue in New York City that housed "Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition"[6] and "The Discovery of King Tut."[7] On June 14, 2016, Premier Exhibitions filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[8]

In late August 2018, at least three groups were vying for the right to purchase the 5,500 Titanic relics that were an asset of the bankrupt company in the case titled RMS Titanic Inc., 16-02230, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida (Jacksonville). [9] Two of the offers for the collection were just under US $20 million, including one by museums in England and Northern Ireland, with assistance by James Cameron.[10] A decision as to the outcome was to be made by Paul M. Glenn, a United States district court judge in Jacksonville, Florida.[11]

History

RMS Titanic Inc.

The first Titanic expedition began in July 1987 and was financed by Titanic Ventures Limited Partnership, Oceanic Research & Exploration. These co-partners led a $6 million expedition to the ship, and recovered artifacts 12,850 ft beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. Co-founder and RMS Titanic Chairman Tulloch (1944–2004), owner of the largest BMW dealership in the U.S., led five of the expeditions.[12] In order to recover artifacts, the expedition team completed 32 dives to Titanic in the Nautile, a deep-diving submersible chartered by Oceanic Research and Exploration in a partnership with the French Research Institute IFREMER.[13] This is the greatest number of deep-sea dives ever completed for any televised project.[14][15]

References

Daisy Xiong. Richmond businessman steers new course for Titanic exhibitions Richmond News, January 9, 2019, retrieved January 11, 2019^
Negative publicity piles on Premier Exhibitions Atlanta Business Chronicle, retrieved December 29, 2014^
United States Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K

2018–present

As of 2020, RMS Titanic Inc. continues to be the wreck's legal salvager.[40] Starting in 2009, they changed their approach to that of closer co-operation with Titanic preservation and regulatory bodies.[41]

In the fall of 2018, the 5,500 artifacts from the Titanic were all for sale after the bankruptcy filing of Premier Exhibitions in the United States. The National Maritime Museum, National Museums Northern Ireland, Titanic Belfast and Titanic Foundation Limited had joined together as a consortium that raised money to purchase the artifacts. They intended to keep all of the items together as a single exhibit. The museums were critical of the bid process set by the bankruptcy court, which set the minimum bid at $21.5 million (£16.5m). The consortium bid of $19.2 million fell short of that amount by October 11, 2018 deadline.[42][43]

Instead, the collection and salvage rights were sold to a consortium of investors led by Apollo Global Management, Alta Fundamental Advisers and PacBridge Capital Partners for $19.5 million.[44] At the time of the purchase, the consortium agreed that any new exploration or salvage expedition must receive approval from NOAA and the court. Further, the purchase price gives Premier’s unsecured creditors an 80% recovery.

A critical opinion piece published in June 2020 accused Premier Exhibitions, and specifically its subsidiary R.M.S. Titanic Inc, of foul play over the auction of the artifacts, suggesting they declared bankruptcy to get around its commitment to keep the collections together and on public display. The piece described the company as "bandits" and "not fit for purpose".[45]

A further controversy arose in 2020, when RMS Titanic Inc. announced plans to retrieve Titanic wireless radio and exhibit it. The U.S. government challenged the plan in a filing with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June, contending that any such expedition, which might "physically alter or disturb" the deteriorating wreck, requires authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce and would breach an agreement with the UK that regulates entry into the hull.[46]

On October 11, 2023 RMS Titanic Inc. announced, via a court filing, that at this time further artifact recovery would not be appropriate. They also indicated they would not be launching another mission to the Titanic site pending further investigations into the Titan submersible implosion.[47]

An imaging expedition was planned for May 2024. It was carried out in July. The expedition utilized high definition imaging technology and ROV's (remotely operated vehicles) to capture detailed images of the wreck site and debris field. [48]

Premier Exhibitions

History

RMS Titanic Inc.

References

1999 takeover

Bodies: The Exhibition

2008

2009–2013

2016

2018–present