On Thursday afternoon, Impact Ventures (the parent company of TNA) and Anthem Sports and Entertainment (the parent company of The Fight Network) issued the following joint statement:
Anthem Sports & Entertainment and Impact Ventures Announce Credit Relationship
Toronto, Canada (November 3, 2016) – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. and Impact Ventures, parent company of TNA Impact Wrestling, today announced that Anthem has provided a credit facility to TNA to fund operations.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a global sports media company that operates Fight Network, Impact Wrestling’s exclusive broadcaster in Canada, as well as the exclusive worldwide digital streaming partner for all TNA programming. It is also an equity stakeholder of Impact Ventures.
The agreement includes the appointment of Anthem Executive Vice President Ed Nordholm to the Impact Ventures Board of Managers. The company will be managed by the Board with Mr. Nordholm representing the Board on all major operating and restructuring decisions. Dixie Carter will continue as Chair of the Company, as well as her position on the Board of Managers. Billy Corgan is no longer with the company.
“We have had a successful, long-term partnership with Fight Network as our Canadian broadcaster, and more recently as our global digital partner,” said Dixie Carter. “Anthem’s team has extensive media experience, and I am excited to have that available to us as we plan for the future.”
“We have consistently maintained that investing in content as we grow our distribution is important as a strategic necessity, and working more closely with a strong brand like TNA is in line with that. This financing is an extension of the support we have been providing since the beginning of the year,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “There are tremendous opportunities to support the company’s growth on all platforms and in all media along side Dixie and the incredible talent and staff at TNA.”
The key takeaways there are:
- Billy Corgan is gone from TNA. From the statement, it’s not clear if his loan has been repaid, although the deadline on the actual loan paperwork was Tuesday (November 1st). On Twitter, Corgan is claiming that he hasn’t been repaid yet:
https://twitter.com/Billy/status/794232124522004482
https://twitter.com/Billy/status/794232633207226368
https://twitter.com/Billy/status/794233412034891776
- In addition to being a TNA shareholder, which we already knew, Anthem is providing a credit facility
- to the company. Investopedia defines a credit facility as “a type of loan made in a business or corporate finance context, including revolving credit, term loans, committed facilities, letters of credit and most retail credit accounts.” The key, however, is that they’re usually “in conjunction with closing a round of equity financing or raising money by selling shares of its stock.”
- We don’t know yet if Anthem is now the majority owner, but if they aren’t yet, this suggests that they’re in the process of making that deal happen. As of Monday, Anthem owned 2.5%, with Aroluxe Media owning 5% and Dixie Carter owning 92.5%.
- There is no mention of Aroluxe Media in the press release even though the plan disclosed in court filings had them heavily involved, with Aroluxe’s Jason Brown as Impact Ventures’ new CEO. Brown had already been running the company day to day in an unofficial capacity.
- Edwin “Ed” Nordholm of Anthem is joining Dixie Carter, Serg Salinas, and Dean Broadhead on Impact’s board of managers.
Update 2:10 p.m. ET: When asked for clarification on some of the above, Anthem sent us this statement:
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. is a private company and we are not releasing any further comment at this time.
