Henson Family to Buy Back Muppets (The deal of the decade?)

Reuters ^ | Wednesday May 7, 2003

[Tarsk]

Reuters

Henson Family to Buy Back Muppets

Wednesday May 7, 10:26 am ET

NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their Muppet friends are homeward bound. Ailing German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG said on Wednesday it agreed to sell Jim Henson Co., the producer of the Muppets, to the children of their creator -- the late Jim Henson -- for $89 million.

The deal ends a nearly two-year hunt for a buyer. Among the suitors were Walt Disney Co., children's programming magnate Haim Saban and former TV executive Dean Valentine.

EM.TV bought Henson from the family for $680 million at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000. It has since sold off pieces of the company, including the Sesame Street characters and its stake in children's network Noggin.

Five Henson siblings would be on the 45-year-old company's board. Two of them, Brian and Lisa Henson, would help manage Henson and its singing, wise-cracking puppets. The brand and its licensing contracts have suffered under EM. TV's management, according to industry insiders, despite the success of a recent made-for-TV Christmas movie.

"We will be actively exploring new and expanded strategic relationships," Brian Henson said in a statement.

EM.TV said the Henson family would pay $78 million in cash for the characters, the TV and motion picture production companies and the special effects unit known as the Creature Shop.

EM.TV, which would keep Henson Co.'s current liquid assets of $11 million, said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay back a 12.5 million euro ($14.3 million) loan and to improve its cash position.

Shares of EM.TV rose more than 7 percent on the news, trading at 1.05 euros at 1416 GMT.

Just five weeks ago, Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner said at an industry conference that he thought the company was close to a deal for Henson, one it walked away from more than a decade ago.

Disney had been set to buy the Muppets in 1990, but pulled out after Jim Henson, the company's heart and soul, died suddenly.

[Tarsk]

"EM.TV bought Henson from the family for $680 million at the peak of the stock market bubble in 2000."

"it agreed to sell Jim Henson Co., the producer of the Muppets, to the children of their creator -- the late Jim Henson -- for $89 million."

OK, "deal of the decade" might be a touch hyperbolic, but that ain't bad going, even if there was a little luck in the timing. Good luck to them!

[conservativeinbflo.]

I posted this article not that long ago-- didn't get too many responses. I guess there are a lot of older people here that weren't as touched by the Muppets like the younger generation was (Gen X). I'm glad to see the Henson's are back in control.

[Contra]

I wonder if a new generation will take to The Muppets?

[egarvue]

I bought a collection of the old Muppet Shows in VHS, am now looking for it on DVD. "Pigs...In...Spaaaaaaaaace!!!!"

Oh, yes, I am most definately Gen X :-)

[Grig]

Sure they will. Muppets from Space was actually very good and got back to the roots of the first movie. My kids love it. A Muppet Christmas Carol is a must every December in my house.

I'm glad Disney didn't get them. Jim Henson was brilliant and I hope the family can carry on the tradition.

[MarkT]

Do you think there will be any muppet stories about the benefits of capitalism? Or maybe there could be some stories about a family that sells an asset for $680MM and then buys it back for only $89MM - what did they do with the other $591MM - did they give it an aids fund or a gender identification education fund or what?

[Mr. Bird]

One of these days I'm gonna get two dogs and name them Statler and Waldorf after the two old guys in the balcony...

[Tarsk]

"Or maybe there could be some stories about a family that sells an asset for $680MM and then buys it back for only $89MM - what did they do with the other $591MM - did they give it an aids fund or a gender identification education fund or what?"

They did whatever the heck they wanted with the money. That's the joy of capitalism. And more fool the idiots who overpaid for the assets. Perhaps they'll be more careful next time with their shareholders' money

[Charlie OK]

I LOVE The Muppets. Have you seen the video by the group Weezer called "keep fishin"? It had the Muppets in it.

[dead]

The article states that the Henson family sold all the muppets for $680 million, but the German firm already sold off the Sesame Street characters.

Gonzo and Miss Piggy don't sell merchandise in anywhere near the volume that Elmo, Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, and Oscar the Grouch do. Those guys move product!

The deal's not as big a bargain as it appears.

[Tarsk]

I'm not a true afficionado but isn't there a considerable crossover between the two shows?

[Ferret Fawcet]

don't forget "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas"

[dead]

Yeah, some of them moved back and forth (particularly Kermit), but there is a clear social hierarchy in muppetdom.

The Sesame Street gang is the royalty. The Muppet Show serfs carry their bags for them.

[American in Israel]

Is the family as creative as dad was? That is the big question. If so, they will create a fresh new batch of personalitys. They just bought the right to create again I would think.

[lurky]

I wonder if a new generation will take to The Muppets?

How can they not? As long as the Henson kids maintain that Muppet fuzzy absurdness, I see gold.

[lurky]

Do you think there will be any muppet stories about the benefits of capitalism? Or maybe there could be some stories about a family that sells an asset for $680MM and then buys it back for only $89MM - what did they do with the other $591MM - did they give it an aids fund or a gender identification education fund or what?

What's motivating this cynical barb?

[GraniteStateConservative]

Emmitt Otter's Jugband Christmas is better.

[SpinnerWebb]

Ain't no hole in the washtub!

[stands2reason]

Wow! Looks like this German outfit essentially rented the Muppets for 200mil/year.

Welcome home, guys!

[Tarsk]

"Wow! Looks like this German outfit essentially rented the Muppets for 200mil/year"

We owe the Muppets to the foresight of the Jewish Brit, the show business entrepreneur, Lord Lew Grade, who backed Jim Henson when everyone else told him to go take a hike.

For years the Muppet show was made in London, in Hampstead. I often used to see Jim Henson loping up Hampstead High Street deep in thought and wearing an ancient sweater and battered cords.

Old Lew Grade joke: One of his few failures in over seven decades in show business (at 20 he was World "Charleston" dance champion - he was over 90 and still working when he died) was the movie "Raise the Titanic". On being asked about the fortune he had lost he reportedly sighed and quipped back, "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."