Quick turn: Former Wilhagan venture soon back in founder's hands

Nashvillian Marcum is using another company to recapture business sold amid distress just months ago

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Nashville-based Wilhagan Ventures CEO Peter Marcum is essentially buying-back Wilhagan's former WV Fiber telecommunications company from Atlanta-based I-Media Holdings, Inc., which bought WV just eight months ago in a distress sale.

Marcum and Harish Shah, both members of the I-Media board of directors, from which they are to resign, are co-owners of the Ultra Global Investment LLC, the company acquiring WV, according to a statement released today by I-Media.

I-Media board member Jerry Dunlap, founder and CEO of Nashville-based ISDN-Net Inc., told NashvillePost.com this afternoon that while the buyback was not anticipated by I-Media when it did last year's deal, he believes I-Media came out ahead.

NashvillePost.com calls placed to Marcum and to I-Media CEO Paul Hamm have not yet been returned. Upon announcement of WV's sale last year, Marcum told NashvillePost.com WV had "struggled mightily and lost a lot of money." The firm had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005.

Terms of the transaction announced today seem to closely mirror terms of I-Media's acquisition in August 2006. I-Media said the transaction announced today will become effective by early May.

I-Media said it "will receive about $3.9 million" in the form of $200,000 cash, retirement of $2.5 million in short-term debt, and retirement of approximately 8 million shares of common stock and derivatives. I-Media will also enjoy preferred pricing on WV's communications, hosting, data collocation and other services.

I-Media's Hamm said in a statement, "The sale of our WV Fiber unit enables us to intensify our focus on our core business of digital media services, which is now poised for rapid growth."

The parties seem to have decided they'd make better partners at arm's-length. Last August, Hamm said acquisition of WV Fiber would provide competitive advantages and was likely to bring the company contract revenue upward of $4 million.

At midday today, I-Media was trading at 13 cents (versus a 52-week high-low of $2.45 and 9 cents, respectively), up 8.33 percent, with a total market value of $1.8 million.