Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Related Party Transactions

v3.7.0.1
Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Jan. 28, 2017
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions
Related Party Transactions
Relationship with GE Equity, Comcast and NBCU
Until April 29, 2016, the Company was a party to an amended and restated shareholder agreement, dated February 25, 2009 (the “GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement”), with GE Capital Equity Investments, Inc. (“GE Equity”) and NBCUniversal Media, LLC (“NBCU”), which provided for certain corporate governance and standstill matters (as described further below). NBCU is an indirect subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (“Comcast”). The Company believes that as of January 28, 2017, the direct equity ownership of NBCU in the Company consisted of 7,141,849 shares of common stock, or approximately 11.0% of the Company’s current outstanding common stock. The Company has a significant cable distribution agreement with Comcast and believes that the terms of the agreement are comparable to those with other cable system operators. During the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company received a $500,000 cash payment from a wholly owned subsidiary of NBCUniversal for the right to use a specified channel in the Boston, Massachusetts' designated market area.
In an SEC filing made on August 18, 2015, GE Equity disclosed that on August 14, 2015, it and ASF Radio, L.P. (“ASF Radio”), an independent third party to Evine, entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement pursuant to which GE Equity agreed to sell 3,545,049 shares of the Company’s common stock, which is all of the shares GE Equity then owned, to ASF Radio for $2.15 per share. According to the SEC filing, ASF Radio is an affiliate of Ardian, an independent private equity investment company. The closing of this sale (the “GE/ASF Radio Sale”) occurred on April 29, 2016. In connection with the GE/ASF Radio Sale, the GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement was terminated and the Company entered into a new Shareholder Agreement (the “NBCU Shareholder Agreement”) with NBCU described below.
GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement
The GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement that was terminated April 29, 2016 provided that GE Equity is entitled to designate nominees for three members of the Company's Board of Directors so long as the aggregate beneficial ownership of GE Equity and NBCU (and their affiliates) was at least equal to 50% of their beneficial ownership as of February 25, 2009 (i.e., beneficial ownership of approximately 8.7 million common shares) (the “50% Ownership Condition”), and two members of the Company's Board of Directors so long as their aggregate beneficial ownership was at least 10% of the shares of “adjusted outstanding common stock,” as defined in the GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement (the “10% Ownership Condition”). In addition, the GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement provided that GE Equity may designate any of its director-designees to be an observer of the audit, human resources and compensation, and corporate governance and nominating committees of the Company's Board of Directors. Neither GE Equity nor NBCU currently has, or during fiscal 2016 had, any designees serving on the Company's Board of Directors or committees.
The GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement required that the Company obtain the consent of GE Equity before the Company (i) exceed certain thresholds relating to the issuance of securities, the payment of dividends, the repurchase or redemption of common stock, acquisitions (including investments and joint ventures) or dispositions, and the incurrence of debt; (ii) enter into any business different than the business in which the Company and its subsidiaries are currently engaged; and (iii) amend the Company's articles of incorporation to adversely affect GE Equity and NBCU (or their affiliates); provided, however, that these restrictions would no longer apply when both (1) GE Equity is no longer entitled to designate three director nominees and (2) GE Equity and NBCU no longer hold any Series B preferred stock. The Company was also prohibited from taking any action that would cause any ownership interest by us in television broadcast stations from being attributable to GE Equity, NBCU or their affiliates.
Stock Purchase from NBCU
On January 31, 2017, subsequent to fiscal 2016, the Company purchased from NBCU 4,400,000 shares of the Company's common stock, representing approximately 6.7% of shares outstanding, for approximately $4.9 million or $1.12 per share, pursuant to the Repurchase Letter Agreement. Following the Company's share purchase, the direct equity ownership of NBCU in the Company consisted of 2,741,849 shares of common stock, or 4.5% of the Company's outstanding common stock. The NBCU Shareholder Agreement was terminated pursuant to the Repurchase Letter Agreement.
NBCU Shareholder Agreement
The Company was a party to the NBCU Shareholder Agreement until it was terminated pursuant to the Repurchase Letter Agreement on January 31, 2017. The NBCU Shareholder Agreement replaced the GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement. The NBCU Shareholder Agreement provided that as long as NBCU or its affiliates beneficially own at least 5% of the Company's outstanding common stock, NBCU is entitled to designate one individual to be nominated to the Company’s Board of Directors. In addition, the NBCU Shareholder Agreement provided that NBCU may designate its director designee to be an observer of the audit, human resources and compensation, and corporate governance and nominating committees of the Company's Board of Directors. In addition, the NBCU Shareholder Agreement required the Company to obtain the consent of NBCU prior to the Company's adoption or amendment of any shareholder’s rights plan or certain other actions that would impede or restrict the ability of NBCU to acquire the Company's voting stock or our taking any action that would result in NBCU being deemed to be in violation of the Federal Communications Commission multiple ownership regulations.
The NBCU Shareholder Agreement also provided that unless NBCU beneficially owned less than 5% or more than 90% of the adjusted outstanding shares of common stock, NBCU could not sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any securities of the Company subject to limited exceptions for (i) transfers to affiliates, (ii) third party tender offers, (iii) mergers, consolidations and reorganizations and (iv) transfers pursuant to underwritten public offerings or transfers exempt from registration under the Securities Act (provided, in the case of (iv), such transfers would not result in the transferee acquiring beneficial ownership in excess of 20%).
Registration Rights Agreement
On February 25, 2009, the Company entered into an amended and restated registration rights agreement that, as further amended, provided GE Equity, NBCU and their affiliates and any transferees and assigns, an aggregate of five demand registrations and unlimited piggy-back registration rights. In connection with the GE/ASF Radio Sale, an amendment to the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement was entered into removing GE Equity as a party and adding ASF Radio, L.P. as a party.
2015 Letter Agreement with GE Equity
On July 9, 2015, the Company entered into a letter agreement with GE Equity pursuant to which GE Equity consented to the Company's adoption of a Shareholder Rights Plan in consideration for the Company's agreement to provide GE Equity, NBCU and certain of their respective affiliates with exemptions from the Shareholder Rights Plan. GE Equity’s consent was required pursuant to the terms of the GE/NBCU Shareholder Agreement. This discussion is a summary of the terms of the letter agreement. In the letter agreement, the Company agreed that if any of GE Equity, NBCU or any of their respective affiliates that holds shares of the Company's common stock from time to time (each a “Grandfathered Investor”) sells or otherwise transfers shares of the Company's common stock currently owned by such Grandfathered Investor to any third party identified to us in writing (any such third party, an “Exempt Purchaser”), the Company will take all actions necessary under the Shareholder Rights Plan so that such third party will not be deemed an Acquiring Person (as defined in the Shareholder Rights Plan) by virtue of the acquisition of such shares. The Company further agreed that, subject to certain limitations, upon request of any Grandfathered Investor or Exempt Purchaser, and in connection with a transfer by such Grandfathered Investor or Exempt Purchaser of shares of the Company's common stock to an Exempt Purchaser, the Company will enter into an agreement with the acquiring Exempt Purchaser granting such acquiring Exempt Purchaser substantially the same rights as set forth above with respect to any sale of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock to any other third party. Additionally, the Company agreed that without the consent of any Grandfathered Investor that is an affiliate of GE Equity and any Grandfathered Investor that is an affiliate of NBCU, the Company will not (i) amend the Shareholder Rights Plan in any material respect, other than to accelerate the Expiration Date or the Final Expiration Date, (ii) adopt another shareholders' rights plan or (iii) amend the letter agreement.
Director Relationships
The Company entered into a service agreement with Newgistics, Inc. ("Newgistics") in fiscal 2004. Newgistics provides offsite customer returns consolidation and delivery services to the Company. The Company's Chief Executive Officer, Robert Rosenblatt, is a member of Newgistics Board of Directors. The Company made payments to Newgistics totaling approximately $4,910,000, $4,517,000 and $4,680,000 during fiscal 2016, fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2014, respectively.
One of the Company's directors, Thomas Beers, has a minority interest in one of the Company's on air food suppliers. The Company made inventory payments to this supplier totaling approximately $1,866,000 and $3,467,000 during fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2015, respectively.
Asset Acquisition of Dollars Per Minute, Inc.
On November 18, 2014, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement with Dollars Per Minute, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("DPM") to purchase certain assets of DPM, including the Evine brand and trademark.
The principal stockholders of DPM are Mark Bozek, the Company's former Chief Executive Officer, and Russell Nuce, the Company's former Chief Strategy Officer. At the time of the transaction, DPM had debt outstanding under certain convertible bridge notes issued to several individuals, including Thomas Beers, one of the Company's directors and a trust for which Russell Nuce has a contingent pecuniary interest. As consideration for the purchase of these assets, primarily related to intellectual property, the Company issued 178,842 unregistered shares of its common stock, which represented an aggregate value of $1,044,000 based on the closing price of the Company's common stock on November 13, 2014 and paid $20,000 in cash consideration and incurred $39,000 in professional fees associated with acquiring the assets.