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Hotlantan
Member
02-24-2005
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:38 pm
NEW YORK (DowJones/AP) Sports Entertainment Enterprises (CKXE), which owns most of the Elvis Presley estate, said Friday it has agreed to acquire 19 Entertainment, the British company behind American Idol, for about $156 million in cash and stock. Sports Entertainment, which is based in Las Vegas and does business as CKX, will pay an additional $36.9 million in either cash or stock following delivery of audited results for the year ending June 30. Sports Entertainment is controlled by billionaire Robert Sillerman. It licenses the songs of Presley and conducts tours of the Graceland mansion. The company said it entered into a long-term agreement with Simon Fuller, who founded 19 Entertainment in 1985, to serve as a director of the company. 19 Entertainment has recording contracts with several musicians, including former American Idol participants Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia. Sports Entertainment financed the acquisition with borrowings and through the exercise of $25 million of stock purchase warrants held by Sillerman and other members of management. Sports Entertainment moved this month to the Nasdaq National Market from the over-the-counter Bulletin Board. Link
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Crossfire
Member
08-07-2001
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:42 pm
Hmmm...Seems kind of cheap.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:49 pm
Yes and things might change for the idols now with different management. Very interesting news Crossfire, thanks. It might also explain why AI let Mario go so easily.
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Crossfire
Member
08-07-2001
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:52 pm
Yep..good post and a timely find by Hotlantan.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 12:59 pm
Sorry about that, Hotlan, thanks for finding it.
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Crzndeb
Member
07-26-2004
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 1:01 pm
Hmmmmmm, very interesting.....we could possibly see other contestants dropping if they weren't informed of this before their contracts were signed.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 1:12 pm
How would they drop of they didn't know about the acquisition? They are still bound by contracts, after all. 19E still exists but it has a larger parent company. These things happen every day.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 1:15 pm
True Tish, but I am betting it factored into the decision to just let Mario go. Parent company probably said we dont want any nasty fights right now before this news hits the streets.
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Crzndeb
Member
07-26-2004
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 1:46 pm
Tish, not saying they will drop, just a thought. They all know they have a 1 in 11 chance now to win, so to 10 of them it's no big deal anyway. Maybe Mario believed all the talk and thought he had a good chance to win and made his choice to leave rather than sign a pretty binding contract. Personally, I think it's going to be between Bo and Anwar. Now if one of them wins, they could come back and say they signed under false pretenses and that may just be a loophole for them to get out of it. Does that make any sense...sometimes it sounds good in my head, but just can't put it on paper very well....I like to call it a menopausal moment..LOL!
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 1:56 pm
From yahoo: After loosing a gamble on a Las Vegas theme park, this company might be ready to sing Viva Las Vegas again. Sports Entertainment Enterprises, which was once the controlling stakeholder in All-American SportPark (AASP), now belongs to media and entertainment impresario Robert Sillerman, who also owns Elvis Presley Enterprises. Sillerman plans to conduct his new business through the defunct but still publicly traded shell. Sports Entertainment and AASP sold their sports-themed amusement park in 2001. Chairman and president Vaso Boreta and his sons own 51% of the company; an investment group led by tennis star Andre Agassi owns another 30%. The company plans to change its name to CKX, Inc.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, March 18, 2005 - 2:00 pm
The number $156 doesnt sound right. From the companys press release: CKX acquired 19 Entertainment from its shareholders, including Mr. Fuller, for total consideration consisting of GBP64.5 million (US $124.4 million) in cash and 1,870,558 shares of CKX common stock, each paid at closing, and an additional GBP19.2 million ($36.9 million) in either cash or stock to be paid following delivery of audited results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005. stock is currently trading at 22.00 a share looks closer to 200 million to me.
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Saturday, March 19, 2005 - 11:54 am
Does anyone think that it sounds cheap, either that or that profits have been misstated in the past? I could have sworn that last year 19 claimed to have made 200M just from AI. My division of a company was just sold (with the normal accompaniment of lost employee benefits) for 10 times one years profit for the price in one years gross, and over 10 times any profit.
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