TBA Entertainment Completes Image Entertainment Acquisition; Expands Corporate Communications & Entertainment Division
Business Wire - September 16, 1998 08:15
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1998--TBA Entertainment Corporation (Nasdaq NM: TBAE) has completed the purchase of Image Entertainment Productions, Inc., a privately-held event production company based in Phoenix, Arizona. Image Entertainment, which specializes in corporate events and festivals, will expand TBA's rapidly-growing Corporate Communications and Entertainment division. The transaction is valued at approximately $1.4 million.
"Image Entertainment will be a great addition to our organization," said Thomas Jackson "Jock" Weaver III, TBA Entertainment Corporation chairman and chief executive officer.
"As an established leader in corporate entertainment and festival planning in the Phoenix marketplace, this company provides TBA with an immediate, strong foothold in the Southwest region and significant growth opportunities," added Greg Janese, executive vice president of TBA Entertainment Corporation and head of the company's Corporate Communications and Entertainment division.
Image Entertainment clients include Frito Lay Corporation, MicroAge Computers, Merrill Lynch, Andersen Consulting, The Fiesta Bowl, Arizona State University and KNIX Radio. The company also has a multi-year contract to produce the New Year's Eve Fiesta Bowl Block Party, rated by USA Today as one of the top 10 New Year's Eve celebrations in the country.
Within the past 90 days, TBA Entertainment Corporation has also:
-- acquired Nashville-based, artist management firm Titley/Spalding
& Associates;
-- acquired Chicago-based Corporate Productions Inc. (CPI);
-- agreed to form a joint venture with Frank Productions to be
called TBA/Frank;
-- sold its West Coast amphitheater operation for $10 million cash; and
-- sold its Village at Breckenridge facility to Vail Resorts Inc. in
a $34 million, all-cash transaction.
And in 1997, the company acquired Avalon Entertainment Group, along with its 50% ownership of Warner/Avalon, and Los Angeles-based Eric Chandler Inc.
These transactions continue to validate the company's ongoing business strategy of 1) growing through strategic acquisitions in the entertainment industry; 2) integrating the acquired businesses into existing operations; 3) divesting of capital intensive fixed assets; and 4) re-investing capital from dispositions to expand the company's more profitable core entertainment operations.
TBA Entertainment Corporation, with offices in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago and Phoenix, is a diversified entertainment company with four core businesses specializing in entertainment marketing and special events, corporate communications and entertainment, artist management and event merchandising.
CONTACT: TBA Entertainment, Nashville
Jennie Perdue, 615/742-5788
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