Arena plummets 30% after Sports Illustrated publishing rights revoked

Paradium.AI

19/01/2024 19:59

** Shares of Arena Group  AREN.A  down 30% at $0.89 on Fri
after Authentic Brands Group (ABG)  AUTH.N  terminates licensing
agreement to publish Sports Illustrated
    ** ABG ends licensing agreement the cos had inked in June
2019 after Arena failed to make a qtrly payment earlier this
month
    ** This as Sports Illustrated plans to lay off a significant
number of employees, the union for the magazine's employees said
on Fri
    ** On Thurs, Arena announced a reduction in its workforce of
over 100 employees, roughly one-third of its current workforce,
in a move to transform its business model
    ** On Jan 4, AREN shares jumped 24% to close at $2.50 after
report of new buyout offer by James Heckman, former Arena CEO,
and crypto mogul Brock Pierce
    ** In Dec, Manoj Bhargava, 5-Hour Energy Drink founder, was
named interim CEO of Arena after co terminated Ross Levinsohn
    ** Arena also publishes publications including TheStreet,
Parade and Men’s Journal

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))