Peace Arch Entertainment Group Acquires Leading Canadian Home Entertainment Studio kaBOOM! Entertainment
Tuesday January 24, 8:00 am ET
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2006--Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc. (TSX:PAE.LV - News; AMEX:PAE - News); one of Canada's most active film and television companies, has acquired kaBOOM! Entertainment Inc., one of the leading independent home entertainment studios in Canada, in a combined cash and stock transaction valued at approximately CAD$8.5 million inclusive of closing costs. The transaction comprised of 10% stock and 90% cash. The cash component was satisfied in part from a debt facility provided by Quest Capital Corp. and the balance by the preferred shareholders. Westwind Partners Inc. acted as financial advisor on the transaction. The announcement was made today by Peace Arch Chief Executive Officer Gary Howsam and kaBOOM! President Berry Meyerowitz.
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As part of the transaction Peace Arch has signed a long-term employment agreement with Berry Meyerowitz, who will continue to run kaBOOM!'s home entertainment operations on a day-to-day basis as a division of Peace Arch.
Peace Arch will now have the ability to self-distribute its motion picture and television productions directly to the home entertainment market in Canada. The move follows the Company's recent addition of senior Canadian television sales executive Michael Taylor to its ranks and the rapid expansion of its international sales arm under the leadership of former HBO international sales topper Penny Wolf.
"The acquisition of kaBOOM! is a significant step in our plan to make Peace Arch one of the pre-eminent production, sales and distribution companies in the international film and television business," said Peace Arch CEO Gary Howsam. "We believe that kaBOOM!'s superb management, consistent profitability and outstanding retail relationships in Canada combined with Peace Arch's proven ability to create and acquire desirable new film and television programming will improve each company's margins and provide a valuable springboard to continuing accretive acquisitions of strategic distribution and content assets."
kaBOOM! President Berry Meyerowitz stated: "We are very excited to be joining Peace Arch just as the company is expanding all areas of its operations. This transaction takes our business to the next level of growth by providing a reliable source of quality new film and television programming, an enhanced ability to acquire and exploit distribution rights in markets outside of Canada, and improved access to other strategic opportunities in Canada, the United States and abroad."
About Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc.
Peace Arch creates, develops, finances, produces and distributes proprietary feature film and television programming for worldwide markets. Based in Toronto, with operating divisions in Vancouver, Los Angeles and London, Peace Arch has put seven new features into production since September 2005. This includes four titles for its new genre label Archetype Films, as well as "DELIRIOUS" starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Alison Lohman and Gina Gershon, and "CHAPTER 27" starring Jared Leto and Lindsay Lohan. The Company is publicly traded on the American and Toronto Stock Exchanges under the symbol PAE.
About kaBOOM! Entertainment Inc.
Founded in 1996, kaBOOM! provides a full range of services relating to the sales, marketing, licensing and distribution of DVDs, videos and ancillary merchandise. It distributes sell-through and rental titles across a wide variety of genres, such as children's, anime, television, health & wellness and live-action feature films. The company partners with industry leaders such as Maple Pictures, Nelvana Limited, Treehouse, Teletoon, Sony Wonder, First Look Studios, DIC Entertainment, Sesame Workshop, and more. kaBOOM! represents leading children's properties such as Max & Ruby, Franklin the Turtle, The Berenstain Bears, Sesame Street, Miss Spider, Toad Patrol, Fraisinette (Strawberry Shortcake) and more!
This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements, usually containing the words "believe", "estimate", "project", "expect", or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company's products and services in the marketplace, competitive factors, dependence upon third-party vendors, availability of capital and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.
Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc. (TSX:PAE.LV - News; AMEX:PAE - News)
