Montreal: Cinar Corp. president and ceo Barrie Usher says legal proceedings brought against the company by BRB Group, a Spanish production and distribution company specializing in children’s programs, are completely unfounded.

Usher’s statement, from a prepared release, refers to documents filed in Quebec Superior Court by BRB principals Claudio Biern Boyd and Jose Manuel Iglesias Bermejo who are claiming damages of $78 million. The businessmen say former Cinar principals Micheline Charest and Ron Weinberg made a Nov. 1998 offer to buy brb for the price of us$33 million cash, plus 565,000 CIF.B (subordinate-voting) shares, which were trading at us$21 at that time on nasdaq, according to the Spanish company’s claim. brb further claims the deal was scheduled to close on Jan. 20, ’99, but Charest and Weinberg refused to finalize the transaction.

Cinar’s price-offer to buy brb purportedly included salaries and bonuses for the two executives extended over a five-year period. The $78 million claim also includes additional interest payments and currency exchange rate claims.

This latest legal action against Cinar is in addition to legal suits brought against the company by shareholders in both the u.s. and Canada. *