RLJ Arranges to Acquire Acorn Media Group and Image Entertainment

Earlier today, RLJ Companies' Chairman Robert L. Johnson announced that RLJ Acquisition, Inc., has begun the procedures necessary to acquire both Image Entertainment as well as the Acorn Media Group. After the agreements take place, the new corporate entity will call itself RLJ Entertainment.

RLJ's official press release posits that within the RLJ Entertainment auspices, Image - a "home entertainment company which primarily acquires and distributes entertainment programming across all media channels...and is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment in North America" and Acorn Media - "a leading independent distributor of British television programming to consumers in North America" - will become a major global force in the field of independent digital and video content distribution.

As Image Entertainment's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ted Green commented, the company has positioned itself to garner "a more robust content library and a larger platform for continued growth," sentiments which Acorn's Chief Executive Officer Miguel Penella echoed when he remarked that Acorn "expect[s] to greatly benefit from Bob Johnson's vision as we continue to acquire library content and build Acorn TV."

Here are Johnson's comments, excerpted from the press release:

"As [the new] Executive Chairman of RLJ Entertainment, I am looking forward to this unique business combination of Image Entertainment and Acorn Media Group...RLJ Entertainment will have a broad strategy for financial growth by providing content to all media platforms including broadcast and cable, DVD and Blu-Ray, digital downloads, and digital streaming. Image Entertainment is a leader in the urban, independent film, comedy, and horror genres and Acorn Media Group, founded by Peter Edwards, who will serve as Vice Chairman of RLJ Entertainment, is a dynamic, brand-oriented company that provides engaging British drama, such as the Agatha Christie library, to its target audiences. I am excited to work with the management team to run a company that will increase the opportunity for independent and urban-oriented producers to reach a broader audience across the expanding number of media outlets. In a growing demand for global content, RLJ Entertainment will be well positioned by having a presence in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom."

RLJ and Image's stockholders still need to approve the proposed RLJ Entertainment model; analysts have set the expected completion dates for some time during the second quarter of 2012.