SANTA ANA, Calif., March 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ACME Communications, Inc. (Pink Sheets:ACME) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a special cash distribution of $.22 per share of common stock and a special distribution of the remaining approximate 300,000 shares of LIN TV Corp. ("LIN") common stock it received in connection with LIN's May 2011 purchase of the Company's television stations in Dayton and Green Bay. Both the cash distribution and LIN stock distribution, the latter which will be distributed on a pro-rata basis to ACME shares held, will be made to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 4, 2012 and distributed on April 10, 2012. Absent any further asset sales which generate taxable profits in 2012, the Company expects these cash and stock distributions to be returns of capital.
The proceeds to fund the cash distribution were generated primarily through a combination of the Company's recently completed sale of its Madison television station, WBUW, the settlement on December 30, 2011 of the Company's MMT litigation for $2.0 million, which resulted in a return of approximately $1.2 million of previously escrowed funds, and a recent state tax refund related to the settlement of a 2003 tax filing dispute.
Commenting on the distribution, Doug Gealy, ACME's President and CEO, said, "We continue to focus on monetizing our assets and getting those proceeds into the hands of our shareholders. We believe our patience in selling assets has benefitted our shareholders and we will continue to be patient with our remaining assets, which now consist solely of our duopoly in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe marketplace and our Daily Buzz production entity. We are committed to making sure these continuing operations, including a reduced corporate office infrastructure, generate positive cash flow for our shareholders going forward."
The Company expects to release its fourth quarter and full year results and post them to its website by early May 2012.
Forward-Looking Statements:
The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking statements. In addition, when used in this press release, the words "will", "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, but not limited to, the tax treatment of the distribution, which will depend largely upon the Company's 2012 full year actual operating result. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect any future events or circumstances.