New York Broadcast Company to Buy iMedia Brands for $50M
ShopHQ parent company iMedia Brands has found a new owner. On Monday, the Eden Prairie-based company said it has inked a deal to be acquired by New York-based RNN National Media Group for $50 million.
Based in Rye, New York, RNN primarily works in the broadcast news business and owns several local TV stations along the coasts and in the south. The iMedia acquisition appears to be the company’s first dip into retail.
When iMedia filed for bankruptcy in late June, the company said that it had already lined up a “potential acquirer,” although RNN was not mentioned by name at the time. iMedia execs have said that inflation has forced consumers to pull back on spending, which hurt the company’s revenue. In its bankruptcy filing in Delaware, iMedia also noted that it defaulted on a loan.
Despite iMedia’s baggage, RNN execs are optimistic about the company’s future. In a news release issued monday, RNN CEO Richard French Jr. said that iMedia is “poised for unprecedented success.”
As part of the deal, RNN will acquire TV shopping network ShopHQ, along with its German counterpart 1-2-3.tv.
RNN is set to take possession of “substantially all” of iMedia’s assets, which include women’s retailer Christopher & Banks and St. Paul-based leather goods company J.W. Hulme.
The release noted that the deal is still subject to “higher or better offers.” The deal also needs approval from bankruptcy court.
