QVC just made a deal to buy its biggest rival, the Home Shopping Network.
In an all-stock deal valued at $2.1 billion, Liberty Interactive will purchase the 62 percent of HSNi that it didn't already own.
"Every year they together produce over 55,000 hours of shoppable video content and have strong positions on multiple linear channels and OTT platforms," Liberty Interactive CEO Greg Maffei said in a statement. "The value of the combined QVC, HSNi and zulily will be further highlighted when later this year QVC Group becomes an asset-backed stock as part of the previously announced split-off of Liberty Ventures."
Trading in HSN Inc.'s shares, which are down nearly 9 percent this year, was halted just before the companies announced the deal. That company's shareholders will receive 1.65 shares of Series A QVC Group common stock for each common share of HSNi, marking a 29 percent premium.
Liberty, whose share value has climbed 39 percent already this year, intends to continue to repurchase QVC Group common stock after the transaction closes, according to the statement.
