Redbox or Deadbox and Crackle Parent is in ‘Active’ Talks to Sell Itself Amid Mounting Debt

Redbox is up for sale – Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is in “active discussions” for a potential sale as the company wrestles with an increasingly dire financial situation.

The company, which owns Crackle and Redbox and a myriad of other media assets, issued a filing late last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing that it was in jeopardy of being delisted by Nasdaq.

The company is in the situation after acquiring Redbox in 2022 for $50 million in stock and assumption of $325 million in debt. Add on top of that a shaky media environment with cratering ad revenue and quarterly losses, and the company’s future is very much in the air. In August, CEO William J. Rouhana said that the company was holding a strategic review to evaluate its opportunities, which is business speak for putting itself up for sale.

The latest disclosure suggests that there are at least some interested takers.

Chicken Soup is hoping its Redbox business can see a boost from Netflix shutting down its DVD mailing business, which formally ceased on Friday.

What is Redbox and how did it get into so much debt?

Redbox is a company that provides various entertainment options for its customers. It offers:

• DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD rentals and purchases through automated kiosks located in various locations across the US. Customers can reserve and pick up movies online or through the Redbox app https://redbox.com/.
• Streaming services that include free on-demand movies and TV shows with ads, free live TV channels, and paid on-demand rentals and purchases of new and popular titles. Customers can stream content on their devices or smart TVs through the Redbox app or website.
• Video game rentals through select kiosks until 2023, when the company discontinued this service due to declining demand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redbox.

Redbox is not to be confused with Red Box, a British pop group that had some hits in the 1980s, or RedBox TV, a third-party streaming app that is not affiliated with Redbox https://redboxtvs.com/