Merger gives Scripps 100 pct of TV shopping network

By Andrea Lillo -- Home Textiles Today, 1/5/2004 12:00:00 AM

CINCINNATI —

The E.W. Scripps Company has acquired the remaining 30 percent of the Shop At Home Network through its acquisition of Summit America.

The agreement, which will give Scripps 100 percent control of the television retailing network and its five Shop At Home-affiliated broadcast television stations, is subject to regulatory approval.

Summit maintained a 30 percent minority interest in Shop At Home. Scripps, which operates the television networks Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY — Do It Yourself Network and Fine Living, acquired a 70 percent controlling interest in the Shop At Home Network from Summit in 2002.

Scripps will pay $4.05 in cash per share, or about $184 million, for approximately 45 million fully diluted outstanding shares of Summit common stock.

"This definitive agreement with Summit America demonstrates our confidence in the future of television commerce and the potential to create substantial shareholder value at Shop At Home," said Kenneth Lowe, president and ceo of Scripps. "If approved, the transaction provides Scripps with the opportunity to gain complete ownership of Shop At Home at an early stage in its integration with our diverse mix of media businesses."

Shop At Home also operates a web site at www.shopathometv.com and produces programming in digital format at its facilities in Nashville, Tennessee.