Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Related Party Transactions

v2.4.1.9
Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2015
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions
Related Party Transactions
Relationship with GE Equity and NBCU
In January 2011, General Electric Company ("GE") consummated a transaction with Comcast Corporation ("Comcast") pursuant to which GE contributed all of its holdings in NBCU to NBCUniversal, LLC, a newly formed entity beneficially owned 51% by Comcast and 49% by GE. As a result of that transaction, NBCU is now a wholly owned subsidiary of NBCUniversal, LLC. In March 2013, GE sold its remaining 49% common equity interest in NBCUniversal, LLC to Comcast pursuant to an agreement reached in February 2013. As of January 31, 2015, the direct equity ownership of GE Equity in the Company consists of 3,718,767 shares of common stock and the direct ownership of NBCU in the Company consists of 7,141,849 shares of common stock. The Company has a significant cable distribution agreement with Comcast and believes that the terms of this agreement are comparable to those with other cable system operators.
In connection with the January 2011 transfer of its ownership in NBCU to NBCUniversal, LLC, GE also agreed with Comcast that, for so long as GE Equity is entitled to appoint two members of the Company's board of directors, NBCU will be entitled to retain a board seat provided that NBCU beneficially owns at least 5% of the Company's adjusted outstanding common stock. Furthermore, GE agreed to obtain the consent of NBCU prior to consenting to the Company's adoption of any shareholders right plan or certain other actions that would impede or restrict the ability of NBCU to acquire or dispose of shares of the Company's voting stock or taking any action that would result in NBCU being deemed to be in violation of the Federal Communications Commission multiple ownership regulations. For additional information regarding the Company's arrangements with Comcast, GE, GE Equity and NBCU, see Note 18 above.
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 Chief Executive Officer, and Russell Nuce, who became the Company's Chief Strategy Officer effective November 17, 2014. 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 our common stock, which represented an aggregate value of $1,044,000 based on the closing price of our common stock on November 13, 2014 and paid $20,000 in cash consideration and incurred $39,000 in professional fees associated with acquiring the asset.