Made-for-TV-movie firm RHI gets less than hoped in IPO
By Behind The Scenes TV on Jun 18, 2008 in Film Business, TV
No Emmy for this deal: TV-miniseries kingpin RHI Entertainment Inc. priced its initial public stock offering late Tuesday at $14 a share, below the $16-to-$18 range the company had hoped to get.
RHI, based in New York, is the production house of the Halmi family — legendary producer Robert Halmi Sr. and son Robert Jr.
RHI was a public firm in the early 1990s until it was bought out by Hallmark Cards in 1994. The Halmis stayed on board under Hallmark’s wing, producing a slew of content for the Hallmark Channel and for other outlets.
They and other investors then bought the firm back from Hallmark in a leveraged buyout in January 2006, with Robert Jr. running the newly independent business. The buyout set the scene for the stock IPO: The Halmis needed capital to pare back the debt from the LBO.
(LA Times)
