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Redbox Parent Outerwall Bought ecoATM for $350 Million: What the Deal Included

Outerwall announced a $350 million ecoATM acquisition in 2013 and closed it that July. Its filing reported $262.9 million paid at closing and about $44.5 million held in escrow.
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Outerwall, then the parent company of Redbox, agreed in 2013 to acquire the remaining interest in ecoATM for stated total consideration of $350 million. The acquisition closed on July 23, 2013, but $350 million was not the cash handed over to sellers at closing: Outerwall already owned 23% of ecoATM, and its filing reported a $262.9 million closing payment after adjustments and recognition of that existing stake.

What Outerwall agreed to buy

On July 2, 2013, Outerwall announced a definitive agreement to acquire ecoATM, a company operating self-service kiosks that bought used mobile phones, tablets and MP3 players for cash. Outerwall was already an ecoATM investor, holding a 23% stake; the transaction was for the remaining interest. Outerwall’s announcement described the kiosks as evaluating devices with machine vision, electronic diagnostics and artificial intelligence, then connecting them to secondary markets. Those are the company’s descriptions of its technology and operations, not independent test findings.

Contemporaneous GeekWire coverage identified Outerwall as Redbox’s parent and described ecoATM as a San Diego company whose automated kiosks purchased used phones and other electronics. The Redbox connection was corporate: Outerwall owned businesses including Redbox and Coinstar, alongside its ecoATM investment.

What the $350 million figure meant

Outerwall’s announcement stated $350 million in cash consideration, including payoff of certain ecoATM indebtedness and transaction costs, and subject to a working-capital adjustment. It also said consideration attributable to Outerwall’s existing 23% stake would be deducted from the cash paid at closing. The $350 million therefore described the stated total purchase consideration, not an unqualified cash payment to sellers on closing day.

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Figure What it describes
$350 million Outerwall’s announced consideration and the approximate total purchase price reported in its 2013 filing; the announcement included certain debt payoff and transaction costs and was subject to a working-capital adjustment. Outerwall announcement; Outerwall Form 8-K.
$262.9 million Cash Outerwall reported paying at closing, after adjustments and accounting for its previously held 23% interest. Outerwall Form 8-K.
Approximately $44.5 million Purchase-price amount reported as subject to escrow holdback for indemnification obligations and adjustments. Outerwall Form 8-K.

The figures describe different parts of the transaction and should not be added together as separate payments. In particular, the escrow amount was held back subject to obligations and adjustments; it was not another amount paid to sellers at closing.

When the acquisition closed

Outerwall expected the agreement to close in the third quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. It reported that the acquisition closed on July 23, 2013. Its Form 8-K put the total purchase price at approximately $350 million and disclosed the lower cash paid at closing, reflecting the previously owned stake and transaction adjustments.

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What Outerwall said ecoATM could add

Outerwall framed ecoATM as a way to collect used devices and connect them with secondary markets. Its 2013 announcement said 175 million new devices were sold annually and estimated that only 20% of used mobile phones were collected. Both numbers were company-provided market estimates published in 2013; they are not current statistics or independently verified figures.

Outerwall CFO Galen C. Smith said the company expected ecoATM to be accretive to earnings per share in 2014 and to yield a positive return on invested capital in the coming years. That was a forward-looking expectation in the deal announcement, not evidence in the cited materials that either result was achieved. ecoATM CEO Tom Tullie described Outerwall as a suitable home for the company and said the aim was to build on their existing relationship.

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What happened to Outerwall afterward

Apollo-affiliated entities completed their acquisition of Outerwall on September 27, 2016. The announcement said Redbox, Coinstar and ecoATM would be managed and operated as three distinct businesses. That establishes the businesses’ relationship at the time of the Apollo transaction; it does not establish who owns any successor business today.

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