The owner of TV shopping network ShopHQ, iMedia Brands, has filed for bankruptcy citing reasons including inflation, declining cable subscribers and lower discretionary spending, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company, which also owns apparel brand Christopher & Banks and leather-goods business J.W. Hulme, is “actively engaged with a potential acquirer” and is working to finalize the sale soon, iMedia Chief Transformation Officer James Alt said in a sworn declaration filed in bankruptcy court Thursday. The company entered chapter 11 with $272 million in assets and $374 million owed to creditors, according to filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. It plans to fund its bankruptcy with cash provided by lenders including Crystal Financial, SLR Business Credit and Siena Lending Group, court records show. Alt said that iMedia filed for bankruptcy less than a week after an investment firm sued it in a state court in Utah for allegedly breaching terms on a loan. Most of iMedia’s revenue is generated by its flagship network, ShopHQ, as well as the male-oriented ShopBulldogTV, ShopHQHealth and German shopping network 1-2-3.tv. Sales at the company’s TV network segment fell to roughly $456 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 28 from $478.9 million the prior year. The segment had a loss of $101.9 million, compared with a loss of $13.5 million a year earlier. The company as a whole reported a net loss of $70 million, widening from $22 million the previous fiscal year.
