Mike George to be appointed
President and CEO, Greg Maffei to be
appointed Chairman
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania,
March 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/
-- 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.
Please visit the new Qurate Retail Group website, which features
videos, facts, aggregated news stories and additional information.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @QurateRetailGrp.
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 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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