Liberty Interactive Corporation ("Liberty Interactive") today announced that it will rename itself "Qurate Retail Group." Liberty Interactive will begin using this new name once the company completes the split-off of GCI Liberty following the previously announced acquisition of GCI Liberty, Inc. (formerly General Communication, Inc., "GCI Liberty") (Nasdaq: GNCMA), and will formally effect this name change at a later date.
The company also announced that Mike George, currently CEO of QVC, Inc., will become President and CEO of Qurate Retail Group. Greg Maffei, who currently holds that position, will become Chairman.
Qurate Retail Group will comprise eight leading retail brands -- QVC, HSN, zulily, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road and Improvements -- all dedicated to providing a 'third way to shop,' beyond transactional ecommerce or traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Globally, Qurate Retail Group will be #1 in video commerce, reaching approximately 370 million homes worldwide via 16 television networks and multiple ecommerce sites, social pages, mobile apps, print catalogs, and in-store destinations, and will be #3 in ecommerce in North America and #3 in mobile commerce in the US(1).
"Qurate Retail Group will be a new venture in more ways than just a change of name," said Greg Maffei. "We will be a select group of like-minded businesses that provide customers with curated collections of unique products, made personal and relevant by the power of storytelling, combining the best of retail, media and social."
As part of this rebrand, Qurate Retail Group will launch a new logo.
"Our new logo and name reflect our unmatched expertise in curation, which goes far beyond product," said Mike George. "We will be the unrivaled leaders in curating experiences, conversations, and communities for millions of highly discerning shoppers -- bringing joy, inspiration and humanity to shopping. In addition, we will curate large audiences, across multiple platforms, for our thousands of brand vendors. These strengths, which are all thanks to our team members, set Qurate Retail Group apart from other retailers."
The rebrand will be the culmination of a multi-year evolution for QVC Group. Each of the eight businesses of Qurate Retail Group will maintain its distinct consumer brand, logo and shopping experience in the new organization. HSN was the original TV shopping channel, followed by QVC. The two brands defined live video commerce, while each leveraged its video expertise to expand into ecommerce, mobile commerce and social commerce. Meanwhile, zulily launched and grew its unique, highly personalized ecommerce platform, and the Cornerstone Brands introduced and expanded their interactive lifestyle brands. In October 2015, Liberty Interactive acquired zulily, and in December 2017, Liberty Interactive acquired full ownership of HSN, Inc., which included the Cornerstone Brands.
As Qurate Retail Group, the combined organization will serve 23 million customers worldwide and will have 27,000 team members in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Poland and China. In 2017, Qurate Retail Group generated pro-forma revenue of $14 billion.
"We are creating a unique organization, with the scale to drive extraordinary innovation in the retail space," George said. "With our highly innovative teams working together across brands, we will be able to offer an expanding array of engaging, content-rich shopping experiences, featuring world-class and entrepreneurial brands, supported with outstanding customer service."
To accelerate innovation, Qurate Retail Group includes a New Ventures team, focused on developing inventive retail concepts and looking beyond the organization's current business for additional growth opportunities. This team is led by Darrell Cavens, the co-founder of zulily.
Qurate Retail Group will trade under new tickers (NASDAQ: QRTEA, QRTEB) and will include the businesses and assets currently attributed to QVC Group tracking stock (NASDAQ: QVCA, QVCB), including QVC, Inc., HSN, Inc. (which includes Cornerstone Brands), and zulily, LLC, which are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Liberty Interactive, and several smaller investments.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the rebranding and corporate name change of Liberty Interactive, including timing, related benefits and changes to trading symbols, the completion of the proposed transactions between Liberty Interactive and GCI Liberty and changes to Liberty Interactive's management and board of directors. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, without limitation, the satisfaction of conditions to the proposed transactions and general market conditions. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and QVC expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in QVC's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Please refer to the publicly filed documents of Liberty Interactive and QVC, including their most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, for additional information about Liberty Interactive and QVC and about the risks and uncertainties related to Liberty Interactive's and QVC's respective businesses which may affect the statements made in this press release.
About the QVC Group
The QVC Group offers the most engaging shopping experiences, combining the best of retail, media and social. The QVC Group consists of eight leading retail brands: QVC, HSN, zulily, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road and Improvements. The QVC Group features curated collections of world-class and entrepreneurial products, presented in engaging, innovative ways, with outstanding customer service. In addition to being the world leader in video commerce, the QVC Group is #3 in ecommerce in North America and #3 in mobile commerce in the U.S. (according to Internet Retailer). The QVC Group reaches approximately 370 million homes worldwide through 16 television networks (including a joint venture in China) and multiple ecommerce sites, social pages, mobile apps, print catalogs and in-store destinations -- aggregating large audiences of enthusiastic shoppers. The QVC Group delivers increasingly personalized content to customers through data analytics and machine learning. The brands of the QVC Group build strong personal connections and long-term relationships with customers, achieving outstanding levels of customer loyalty and retention. Headquartered in West Chester, Pa., the QVC Group has 27,000 team members in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Poland and China. Visit the QVC Group webpage ( http://corporate.qvc.com/lp/qvc-group/ ) to learn more.
The QVC Group is comprised of QVC, Inc., HSN, Inc. (which includes Cornerstone Brands), and zulily, LLC, which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Liberty Interactive Corporation, attributed to the QVC Group tracking stock (NASDAQ: QVCA, QVCB). QVC, Q, and the Q Ribbon Logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. For more information on Liberty Interactive Corporation, visit www.libertyinteractive.com .
All data as of FY 2017. (1) Among multi-category retailers (Source: Internet Retailer).
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