Coinstar Inc. has announced in a news release the sale of its entertainment-service business, which comprises gumball machines, children's rides and video games.
Paul Davis, Coinstar's chief executive, says the sale helps the company make good on its promise to investors to focus on its retail self-service initiatives – namely, its coin-counting kiosk and the redbox DVD-rental brand:
As we discussed on our second-quarter conference call, we are focused on leveraging our strength in self-service automated retail to drive growth and increase shareholder value. Our core DVD and coin kiosk businesses provide a solid foundation and, with the sale of our entertainment services business, we are better positioned to maximize the substantial market opportunity in automated retail.
Coinstar sold its entertainment arm to Louisville, Colo.-based National Entertainment Network, a company which the news release says was just formed in August in anticipation of the acquisition.
