Sharper Image (SHRPQ)

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Sharper Image in $540 mln deal with HoMedics

Sharper Image Inc. said on Monday it had signed a $540 million licensing deal with HoMedics, as it seeks to transform itself from a retailer to a pure brand name.

Under the five-year licensing agreement, HoMedics will manufacture personal care and health gadgets under the Sharper Image name. The products will be sold at chains including Macy's Inc, Bed Bath & Beyond and J.C. Penney Co Inc.

Sharper Image expects to sign five more licensing deals before year-end, and projects its volume in five years will exceed $4 billion at retail, according to a report in the New York Post, which cited Jamie Salter of Hilco Consumer Capital.

Hilco led a group of investors that bought Sharper Image earlier this year.

As a retailer, Sharper Image filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, hurt by falling sales and worsening credit market conditions. It had previously lost money for three years, in part because of lawsuits over its Ionic Breeze air purifiers.

In May Hilco and its partners announced they were buying the Sharper Image brand and intellectual property rights for $49 million. The retail assets, such as inventory and stores, are in the final stages of being liquidated, according to a Sharper Image spokesman.

Sharper Image shares stood at 1.2 cents, up 50 percent, in morning over-the-counter trade.