Financial services and royalties collection outfit Fintage House has completed a management buyout as well as appointing entertainment lawyer Maarten P Melchior to head the company's film and television collection account management division.

Fintage's management is buying the company, which has offices spanning Europe, Australia, Japan and the US, from the Netherlands' MeesPierson Bank. The buyout is financed by Fortis Bank and equity investors.

Melchior previously worked with Fintage co-chairmen Robbert Aarts and Niels Teves in the early nineties at the company's forerunner, MeesPierson Communications.

Teves said that the new-look operation would continue to have a preferential arrangement with Fortis and MeesPierson for all banking requirements. He added that the company would '"continue to operate in the same manner as we have over the last fifteen years, during which time we have represented thousands of feature films."