Harvey Weinstein at the Weinstein and Netflix Golden Globes after-party at Beverly Hilton Hotel adjacent on Jan. 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo Credit: Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com

Victims of Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct may be left out in the cold following a deal to sell The Weinstein Co.'s assets in bankruptcy, experts said this week.

The embattled film and television studio on Monday filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware with an agreement in place to sell its assets to investment firm Lantern Capital Partners for $310 million, subject to better offers submitted during the fast-tracked proceedings.

The deal, however, did not set aside money to compensate Harvey Weinstein's accusers—a key aspect of earlier, and ultimately unsuccessful, negotiations between New York's attorney general and a group of interested buyers. Instead, the victims are expected to form a committee of unsecured creditors to pursue their interests in bankruptcy.

Based on court documents, the size of The Weinstein Co.'s secured debt indicates that there will be few funds left to distribute after the studio pays back its secured creditors, dimming the victims' prospects and narrowing their options for getting paid.

“There's a high likelihood … that there won't be any recovery, or minimal recovery, for unsecured creditors,” in the bankruptcy proceedings, said Jeremy W. Ryan, a bankruptcy attorney and partner with Potter Anderson & Corroon.

The Weinstein Co. on Tuesday listed $345 million in secured debt owed to banks and other financial institutions that had lent it money. Only after those commitments are fulfilled would assets be free to flow to unsecured creditors, who sit at the bottom of the totem pole for distribution.

Even then, U.S. bankruptcy law generally requires equal distribution of assets among unsecured creditors with the same priority for claims against the company. In The Weinstein Co.'s case, those include various acting guilds, Harvey's brother, Bob Weinstein, and about a half-dozen law firms, which are owed approximately $20 million for legal work they did on behalf of the firm, according to court documents.

Compounding the problems for Weinstein's accusers, none have yet to obtain a judgment that would attach a dollar amount to their claims, and none of at least nine lawsuits alleging negligence by The Weinstein Co. and its directors will be resolved by May 4, when the studio hopes to complete the sale.

Harvey Weinstein has denied allegations of nonconsensual sex. Weinstein is also accused of harassing and touching women inappropriately, often under the guise of professional interactions. He was fired from the company last October and was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the wake of the scandal.

There remains the possibility that Lantern or another potential buyer could agree to set aside money to pay accusers as a part of the sale process, a step advocated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who had tried to broker a deal to sell the company for $500 million to a group of investors backed by Maria Contreras-Sweet. According to media reports, the agreement, which included a pledge of $90 million to settle victims' claims, fell apart earlier this month amid questions of undisclosed debts.

Short of that, the accusers would hope for a competitive bidding process to drive up the value of the firm or to discover an asset of the bankruptcy state that other creditors could not access.

The “best route,” Ryan said, would be to argue that a studio insurance policy covered the acts Weinstein was alleged to have committed against the women.

It was unclear, however, if such a policy exists. Under U.S. bankruptcy law, The Weinstein Co. has 15 days from the date of filing to submit that information to the court, and local rules allow the company to request a 15-day extension, Ryan said.

Jill E. Fisch, a business and law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School said that while insurance policies that generally cover directors and officers are common, policies specific to sexual harassment by a director are exceedingly rare.

“I've never heard of a policy specific to sexual harassment,” she said. “I would guess if they had that kind of insurance policy, we would have heard about it by now.”

It also remains to be seen whether an other private investor would find enough value in the studio's television business and catalog of 277 films to top Lantern's stalking-horse bid, after court filings this week revealed the extent to which the allegations against Harvey Weinstein have impacted the company's bottom line.

According to the documents, The Weinstein Co. has lost 25 percent of its workforce since accusations of sexual assault and harassment began to surface against Harvey Weinstein in early October. The defections also included five members of The Weinstein Co. board, leaving just four directors—including Bob Weinstein—currently in place.

Meanwhile, the studio has lost millions in production and distribution agreements amid the backlash, which has sparked the nationwide #MeToo movement. As of Monday, The Weinstein Co. attorneys said the company had less than $500,000 in cash on hand.

The Weinstein Co. said that it expects to see $151 million in net cash flows for its catalog of movies in 2018, and revenue for its TV division is projected to hit $255 million.

“I do not think this is a company that has a lot of revenue-generating assets going forward,” said Eric Talley, a professor at Columbia Law School who specializes in corporate governance and finance.

While claims against the studio would be extinguished after a sale, the accusers would still be free to target Weinstein individually or to pursue claims against individual board members for failing to rein in the film mogul's behavior, Fisch said.