Business
RLJ Acquisition, Inc. acquires Image Entertainment, Inc. and Acorn Media Group to Form RLJ Entertainment, Inc.
Robert L. Johnson
Robert L. Johnson, Founder of The RLJ Companies, Will Serve as Executive Chairman of The New NASDAQ Publicly Traded Company.
(PRNewswire) – Robert L. Johnson, Chairman of The RLJ Companies and founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), announced today RLJ Acquisition, Inc. has successfully completed the business combination acquiring Image Entertainment, Inc. and Acorn Media Group, Inc., two highly complementary media content distribution companies to create RLJ Entertainment, Inc.
Approved by the Company’s, Image’s and Acorn’s respective shareholders, RLJ Entertainment, Inc. becomes one of the largest independent global distributors of digital and video content.
“RLJ Entertainment CEO Ted Green, COO Miguel Penella, and I are very excited about this new business combination. RLJ Entertainment’s goal is to become a preeminent distributor of content to all media platforms including DVD and Blu-Ray, digital downloads, digital streaming, and broadcast and cable,” said Mr. Johnson.
“We are also committed as part of our business strategy, to leveraging our experience in acquiring, distributing, and monetizing content to create branded digital subscription channels over the Internet targeted to distinct audiences that are underserved by current media platforms and interested in programming that appeals directly to their unique viewing interests.
“RLJ Entertainment believes that the growing convergence of streaming digital content directly to the television set will revolutionize the way consumers acquire content on a customized a la carte basis rather than purchasing bundled packages.
RLJ Entertainment is uniquely situated to become a prominent player in a digital media world where the consumer controls what they want to see and when and where they want to see it.”
RLJ Entertainment marks the third company Mr. Johnson has taken public, including Black Entertainment Television, which became the first African American company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991 and RLJ Lodging Trust, a US$2 billion market cap hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) with 144 hotels, which Mr. Johnson co-founded with CEO Tom Baltimore, went public in May of 2011.
