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News
Viacom sells music retailer
August 11, 1998: 1:01 p.m. ET

Wherehouse Entertainment buying Blockbuster Music for $115M cash
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Viacom Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to sell Blockbuster Music, part of its Blockbuster Entertainment Group, to Wherehouse Entertainment Inc. for $115 million cash.
     The sale is part of the media giant's overall plan to turn around its Blockbuster unit, which is expected to be spun off as early as next year.
     The deal will allow Blockbuster "to focus on what it does best while at the same time further reducing Viacom's debt," Viacom Chairman and Chief Executive Sumner M. Redstone said.
     The transaction includes 378 Blockbuster Music retail stores across the United States, which generated $590 million revenue in 1997. That translated to $1.9 million in cash flow (defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), excluding unallocated overhead and the effect of a charge taken last year.
     Torrance, Calif.-based Wherehouse is owned by investment firm Cerberus Partners and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1997. For the latest fiscal year, ended Jan. 31, net income totaled $7.7 million on revenue of $327 million.
     The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Back to top

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.