QVC's corporate owner is buying longtime rival Home Shopping Network for 105 million easy payments of $19.99.
Actually, the deal's $2.1 billion price tag is being done in stock, not cash, and it encompasses the 61.8% of HSN (HSNI) that Liberty Interactive (QVCA), the owner of QVC, does not already own.
"The addition of HSN will enhance QVC's position as the leading global video eCommerce retailer," said Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Interactive. "Every year they together produce over 55,000 hours of shoppable video content."
The deal is expected to be completed in the final three months of this year.
The two television shopping networks have been seeing their sales steadily decline in recent years with the rise of online shopping. But QVC still did $8.7 billion in sales last year, while HSN has revenue of $3.5 billion.
