14 Aug Chicken Soup for the Soul, Redbox and Crackle Owner, Signals That It’s Open to Dealmaking [The Hollywood Reporter]
BY CAITLIN HUSTON
August 14, 2023 | Chicken Soup for the Soul is forming a strategic review committee to evaluate its next steps, as the company is in the midst of enacting several cost-savings measures and prioritizing cash flow.
“In recent months, we’ve seen an increase in strategic activity within our space,” CEO William J. Rouhana, Jr. said on the earnings call Monday. “We’ve had incoming requests from financial and strategic partners. We’re going to form a strategic review committee consisting of independent board members to evaluate these opportunities, and will pursue transactions that check all the boxes and create value for our shareholders.”
The company, which owns Redbox and Crackle, saw a net loss of $43.7 million, compared with a net loss of $20.8 million a year ago and net revenue of $79.9 million, up from $37.6 million a year ago. Shares of the company were down 18 percent in after hours trading Monday.
Chicken Soup for the Soul has seen some recent success with the priorities it outlined earlier this year, including studios “recommitting to the home video window,” a rebound in rentals and an ad market insulted from the broader advertising showdown, but “the pace at which some of them have rebounded has been slower than expected,” Rouhana said. He added that performance from the Redbox kiosks has not grown as quickly as expected, which he attributed to “sporadic new content.”