Ascent Capital Group

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Ascent Capital Group, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: ASCMA
Nasdaq: ASCMB
IndustryResidential Security Monitoring
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Defunct2019; 5 years ago (2019)
FateMerged with Monitronics
Headquarters,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
William R. Fitzgerald
(Chairman)
William E. Niles
(CEO)
RevenueIncreaseUS$311.9M (FY 2011)[1]
IncreaseUS$-28.2M (FY 2011)[1]
IncreaseUS$20.6M (FY 2011)[1]
Total assetsDecreaseUS$1,626M(FY 2011)[1]
Total equityIncreaseUS$560M (FY 2011)[1]
Websitewww.ascentcapitalgroupinc.com

Ascent Capital Group, Inc. was a public holding company[2] whose primary subsidiary was Monitronics. Ascent Media was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Discovery Holding Company (DHC). DHC spun off Ascent Media as an independent, public company on September 17, 2008.[3]

The company's main activity through its wholly owned subsidiary, Monitronics, was to provide security alarm monitoring services to more than 1 million residential and commercial customers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico through its nationwide network of independent dealers.[citation needed]

On May 24, 2019 Ascent Capital Group announced its intent to merge with Monitronics.[4]

History[edit]

In its past, Ascent Capital Group provided creative and technical services to the media and entertainment industries.[5] Ascent Media was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Discovery Holding Company (DHC). DHC spun off Ascent Media as an independent, public company on September 17, 2008.[3]

The assets and operations of Ascent Capital Group are composed primarily of the assets and operations of various businesses acquired from 2000 through 2004, including The Todd-AO Corporation, Four Media Company, Video Services Corporation, Group W Network Services, London Playout Centre and the systems integration business of Sony Electronics. The combination and integration of these and other acquired entities allows AMG to offer integrated outsourcing for the technical and creative requirements of its clients, from content creation and other post-production services to media management and transmission of the final product to broadcast television stations, cable system head-ends and other destinations and distribution points."[6]

  • 1999: Ascent Media formed through the acquisition of three post-production companies: Todd-AO Corporation, Four Media Company, and certain assets of Soundelux Entertainment Group using Liberty Media stock valued at more than $400 million US dollars.
  • 2005: Ascent Media announces deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to convert Sony's library of more than 4,000 films and many of its vintage TV shows into digital files. "As envisioned by Sony and Ascent Media, files that are now delivered manually to distributors such as the Starz Encore pay-TV service would be transferred instead as digital files over a secure network."[7]
  • 2006: Discovery Holding Company acquires AccentHealth to be overseen by Ascent Media. Discovery Holding's press release reported, "Delivered to over 11,200 medical waiting rooms nationwide, AccentHealth's programming and sponsor messages are delivered to over 19 million health conscious consumers each month."[8]
  • 2007: During the fourth quarter of 2007, the Board of Directors of DHC approved a resolution to spin off the capital stock of AMC to the holders of DHC Series A and Series B common stock. Each owner of Series A common stock is allowed 1 vote per share of voting power and Series B common stock owners are allowed 10 votes per share.[9]
  • 2008: On September 4, 2008, Ascent Media completed the sale of 100% of the ownership interests in AccentHealth to an unaffiliated third party for net cash proceeds of $118,643,000.
  • 2008: The AMC Spin Off was completed on September 17, 2008. Following the AMC Spin Off, AMC and DHC operate independently, and neither has any stock ownership, beneficial or otherwise, in the other.[6]
  • 2008: Ascent Media Group's Creative Sound Services group spun off from Discovery Holding Company to create CSS Studios, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Communications. This included the assets of Todd-AO, Soundelux, Sound One, POP Sound, Modern Music, Soundelux Design Music Group and The Hollywood Edge.[10]
  • 2010: In December 2010, Ascent Media acquired Monitronics, a home security system company.[11]
  • 2011: On February 28, 2011, Encompass Digital Media, Inc. purchased Ascent Media's global content distribution business, including facilities in: New York metro area, Minnesota, Burbank, London and Singapore.[12] On July 7, 2011, Ascent Media Corporation merged with its subsidiary, Ascent Capital Group, Inc., for the purpose of changing its name to Ascent Capital Group, Inc.[1]
  • 2012: On October 26, 2012, Monitronics acquired approximately 93,000 security alarm monitoring subscriber accounts representing $4.4 million of gross recurring monthly revenue from Pinnacle Security for a purchase price of $131 million.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ascent Capital Group 2011 Annual Report – Form 10-K – February 29, 2012". secdatabase.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  2. ^ Hoover's coverage by Sylvia Lambert (2008-01-02). "Ascent Media Corporation information and related industry information from Hoover's United Kingdom (UK)". Hoovers.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  3. ^ a b "Discovery Communications LLC 2008 Registration Statement – Form S-4 – July 18, 2008". secdatabase.com. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  4. ^ "MONITRONICS INTERNATIONAL, INC. 2019 Merger Statement – Form S-4 – July 18, 2008". sec.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  5. ^ "Home – Ascent Capital Group, Inc". Ascentmediacorporation.com. 2011-12-08. Archived from the original on 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  6. ^ a b "e10vk". Sec.gov. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  7. ^ "John Malone's Digital Picture Show". Businessweek.com. 2005-04-19. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  8. ^ [1] Archived October 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "ASCENT MEDIA GROUP INC – Amended Annual Report (10-K/A) PART III". Sec.edgar-online.com. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  10. ^ https://www.webcitation.org/5hR9Hvp3r?url=http://www.postmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ "Ascent Media Corporation Acquires Monitronics". The Wall Street Journal. December 17, 2010. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
  12. ^ "ENCOMPASS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ASCENT MEDIA CORPORATION'S CONTENT DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS". Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  13. ^ "MONITRONICS INTERNATIONAL ACQUIRES 93,000 HIGH QUALITY SUBSCRIBER ACCOUNTS"

External links[edit]

    • Historical business data for Ascent Capital Group:
    • SEC filings