Thanks pete, also just got POWN .32 +.02 on this news: Liberty Media Corp. Acquires Stake in Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment, Inc.
Wednesday September 20, 9:45 am ET
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2006--Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq: LINTA - News, LCAPA - News) and IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT - News, IDT.C - News) recently announced that they have completed the first stage of the previously announced acquisition by Liberty of IDT's Entertainment Division. The closing encompassed all of the U.S. and certain international operations including IDT Entertainment's stake in Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Inc. (OTC: POWN - News) and six character franchises created and co-produced by POW!.
The union of these two entertainment giants created a stellar scenario for the production and distribution of the six "Stan Lee Presents" character franchises that POW! created exclusively for IDT Entertainment. IDT combining with Liberty adds a whole new level of distribution and development to realize the full potential of these projects. Jim Courter, CEO of IDT Corporation said, "The next phase of its development will be directed by Liberty Media, a company with a record for realizing the potential of media and entertainment assets."
IDT's Entertainment Division along with its POW! Entertainment ownership and Stan Lee Presents assets has been combined with Liberty's wholly owned subsidiary Starz Entertainment Group and is attributed now to the Liberty Capital Group.
"Joining IDT Entertainment and Starz will allow both to benefit and grow as part of an integrated media organization with substantial programming production capabilities and access to all distribution outlets," said Liberty president and CEO Gregory B. Maffei. "And this transaction advances our strategy of converting passive assets into operating business units."
IDT Entertainment and Starz Entertainment Group combined are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Starz. LLC which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. Under the new structure, IDT Entertainment has been renamed Starz Media, and Starz Entertainment Group has been renamed Starz Entertainment. Robert B. Clasen will serve as chairman and chief executive officer of both entities and of Starz, LLC, which will be the umbrella company overseeing the two operating units.
The new company will produce live-action and animated programming, including feature films, series, specials and shorts. It will distribute that programming to consumers however and wherever they want to watch: in theaters, on DVDs, via cable or satellite, on broadcast stations, and over the Internet in both the domestic and international market.
IDT Entertainment inclusive of its ownership in POW! Entertainment and the six Stan Lee Presents projects along with a host of other assets including Film Roman, ("The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill") and Anchor Bay Entertainment, was purchased by Liberty Media for $186 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, and all of Liberty Media's equity interests in IDT and its subsidiaries, including approximately 17.2 million shares of IDT's Class B common stock and Liberty Media's approximate 5% interest in IDT Telecom. Liberty will also assume IDT Entertainment's existing indebtedness. IDT will be entitled to receive additional consideration from Liberty based upon the appreciation in value of IDT Entertainment over the five year period following closing. In addition, IDT Entertainment and Starz entered into a five-year programming output agreement for the broadcast of certain IDT Entertainment's proprietary CG animated theatrical releases and live action programming on Starz's premium channels. The transaction was subject to certain customary conditions and contingencies, including the finalization and execution of definitive documentation and the receipt of regulatory approvals.
POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment, Inc. is founded by world famous comic book and motion picture icon Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man(1), X-Men(1), The Hulk(1), and Fantastic Four(1), together with award winning producer Gill Champion and intellectual properties acclaimed expert Arthur Lieberman esq. POW's principals combined, have created, produced and licensed some of the most successful global character franchises of all time that have gone on to generate billions of dollars in revenues. POW! has partnered with major studios, networks and industry leaders to perpetuate a whole new cast of contemporary Stan Lee Originals. POW! Entertainment is now publicly traded under the symbol (POWN).
(1)These are characters and trademarks of Marvel Characters Inc. (MVL)
Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LINTA - News, LINTB - News, LCAPA - News, LCAPB - News) is a holding company owning interests in a broad range of electronic retailing, media, communications and entertainment businesses. Their businesses include some of the world's most recognized and respected brands and companies, including QVC, Encore, Starz, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and News Corporation.
Liberty is controlled by cable pioneer John Malone and is the second-biggest shareholder of the world's largest media company, Time Warner Inc (TWX), with a 4.1 percent stake, or 171 million shares, as of Jan. 31, 2006.
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, Liberty Media Corporation is listed as having other ownership of or in the following companies:
QVC
Court TV (50%)
Discovery Channel
Animal Planet
Discovery Health Channel
Discovery Home & Leisure
Discovery Science
People & Arts
E! Entertainment Television (10%)
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions (67%)
International Channel (90%)
Pramer S.C.A. (Argentina) (100%)
Torneos y Competencias, S.A. (40%)
Chorus Communications (Ireland) (40%)
IDT Corporation (11%)
Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, Inc. (100%)
Omnipoint Communications, Inc. (4%)
Telewest Communications plc (UK) (20%)
UnitedGlobalCom, Inc. (74%)
Aerocast.com, Inc. (39%)
Hughes Electronics Corporation (1%)
Sky Latin America Satellite (9%)
XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (1%)
News Corporation (17%)
Vivendi Universal (4%)
Motorola, Inc. (3%)
Starz Encore Group (100%)
Discovery Communications, Inc. (50%)
The Learning Channel
Travel Channel
Discovery Civilization
Discovery Kids
Discovery Wings
Europe Showcase
Game Show Network (50%)
DMX Music
Jupiter Programming Co. (Japan) (50%)
The Premium Movie Partnership (Australia) (20%)
Cablevision S.A. (Argentina) (39%)
Digital Latin America (43%)
Jupiter Telecommunications Co. (Japan) (45%)
Metropolis-Intercom, S.A. (Chile) (50%)
Sprint PCS Group (20%)
The Wireless Group (30%)
Liberty Satellite & Technology, Inc. (87%)
Astrolink International LLC (27%)
On Command Corporation (66%)
Wildblue Communications, Inc. (32%)
AOL Time Warner Inc. (4%)
Viacom (1%)
PRIMEDIA (partial investment)
Cendant Corporation (3%)
Starz Entertainment Group LLC. (SEG) is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. SEG offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 14.6 million and 26.4 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment Group airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HDTV, Starz On Demand and Vongo(SM). Starz Entertainment Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group.
IDT Corporation, through its IDT Telecom subsidiary, is a facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to retail and wholesale customers worldwide. IDT Telecom, by means of its own international telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance and domestic all-distance telephony and prepaid calling cards. IDT Entertainment is the IDT subsidiary that is focused on developing, acquiring, producing and distributing computer-generated and traditionally animated productions and other productions for the film, broadcast and direct-to-consumer markets. IDT Capital is the IDT division principally responsible for IDT's initiatives in radio broadcasting, brochure distribution and new technologies. Net2Phone, Inc., a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, is a provider of high-quality global retail Voice over IP services and offers a fully outsourced cable telephony service to cable operators allowing cable operators to provide residential phone service to their subscribers. IDT Corporation's Class B Common Stock and Common Stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols "IDT" and "IDT.C," respectively.
Statements in this press release relating to plans, strategies, economic performance and trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, risk factors inherent in doing business. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "forecasts," "potential," or "continue," or similar terms or the negative of these terms. The company has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Contact:
For POW! Entertainment, Inc., California
Concept Communications Group, LLC
James Caldwell, 727-447-0514
jc@conceptcg.com
conceptcg.com
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Source: POW! Entertainment Inc. |
