Henson Family to Buy Back Muppets
Wed May 7,10:26 AM ET
NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their Muppet friends are homeward bound.
Ailing German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG said on Wednesday it agreed to sell Jim Henson (news) Co., the producer of the Muppets, to the children of their creator -- the late Jim Henson -- for $89 million.
The deal ends a nearly two-year hunt for a buyer. Among the suitors were Walt Disney Co., children's programming magnate Haim Saban and former TV executive Dean Valentine.
EM.TV bought Henson from the family for $680 million at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000. It has since sold off pieces of the company, including the Sesame Street characters and its stake in children's network Noggin.
Five Henson siblings would be on the 45-year-old company's board. Two of them, Brian and Lisa Henson, would help manage Henson and its singing, wise-cracking puppets. The brand and its licensing contracts have suffered under EM. TV's management, according to industry insiders, despite the success of a recent made-for-TV Christmas movie.
"We will be actively exploring new and expanded strategic relationships," Brian Henson said in a statement.
EM.TV said the Henson family would pay $78 million in cash for the characters, the TV and motion picture production companies and the special effects unit known as the Creature Shop.
EM.TV, which would keep Henson Co.'s current liquid assets of $11 million, said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay back a 12.5 million euro ($14.3 million) loan and to improve its cash position.
Shares of EM.TV rose more than 7 percent on the news, trading at 1.05 euros at 1416 GMT.
Just five weeks ago, Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner said at an industry conference that he thought the company was close to a deal for Henson, one it walked away from more than a decade ago.
Disney had been set to buy the Muppets in 1990, but pulled out after Jim Henson, the company's heart and soul, died suddenly.
Goldman Sachs advised the Henson family, and Allen & Co. advised EM.TV. ($1=.8773 euro)
Wed May 7,10:26 AM ET
NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their Muppet friends are homeward bound.
Ailing German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG said on Wednesday it agreed to sell Jim Henson (news) Co., the producer of the Muppets, to the children of their creator -- the late Jim Henson -- for $89 million.
The deal ends a nearly two-year hunt for a buyer. Among the suitors were Walt Disney Co., children's programming magnate Haim Saban and former TV executive Dean Valentine.
EM.TV bought Henson from the family for $680 million at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000. It has since sold off pieces of the company, including the Sesame Street characters and its stake in children's network Noggin.
Five Henson siblings would be on the 45-year-old company's board. Two of them, Brian and Lisa Henson, would help manage Henson and its singing, wise-cracking puppets. The brand and its licensing contracts have suffered under EM. TV's management, according to industry insiders, despite the success of a recent made-for-TV Christmas movie.
"We will be actively exploring new and expanded strategic relationships," Brian Henson said in a statement.
EM.TV said the Henson family would pay $78 million in cash for the characters, the TV and motion picture production companies and the special effects unit known as the Creature Shop.
EM.TV, which would keep Henson Co.'s current liquid assets of $11 million, said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay back a 12.5 million euro ($14.3 million) loan and to improve its cash position.
Shares of EM.TV rose more than 7 percent on the news, trading at 1.05 euros at 1416 GMT.
Just five weeks ago, Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner said at an industry conference that he thought the company was close to a deal for Henson, one it walked away from more than a decade ago.
Disney had been set to buy the Muppets in 1990, but pulled out after Jim Henson, the company's heart and soul, died suddenly.
Goldman Sachs advised the Henson family, and Allen & Co. advised EM.TV. ($1=.8773 euro)
