Investment Bank Retained to Review 'Strategic Relationships and Alternatives'

IDW Media Holdings has retained investment bank J.P. Morgan to assist in a “review of strategic relationships and alternatives,” the company announced Monday. “Strategic alternatives,” in this usage, usually refers to a sale of all or part of the company, but could also include other forms of investment or alliance with another company.

“[W]e are working to extend our reach through new strategic partnerships while examining other alternatives to realize the full value of IDWM’s outstanding IP portfolio and pipelines,” IDWM Chairman and CEO Howard Jonas said in a statement.

Jonas emphasized the company's library of comics and graphic novel content and its slate of TV programming as sources of value. "As competition for audience continues to intesnsify on both traditional and streaming, over-the-top platforms, IDWM is well positioned to produce and feed stellar programing in domestic and international markets," he said in the statement.

No deadline was set for the completion of the review, and “there can be no assurance that our review process will result in any transaction,” Jonas warned. Further comments on the process will be limited, he added.

Jonas took over as CEO with the departure of Kerry McCluggage last month after a tenure of less than a year (see “IDW CEO Out, Chairman, Largest Stockholder Takes Role”). The company showed a loss of $36 million in its most recent fiscal year ended October 31, after a loss of $28.8 million in its fiscal Q4 alone. Jonas has been feeding the company tens of millions of dollars to fund TV production on multiple shows (see “IDW Chairman Loaned Company $28 Million”). Meanwhile, production on the company’s Wynonna Earp TV series has been suspended due to a shortage of cash (see “’Wynonna Earp’ Money Problems”).

IDW publishes comics and games through its publishing division.