Sillerman, Fuller to Take CKX Private

NEW YORK, June 1: Simon
Fuller and billionaire Robert F.X. Sillerman are taking CKX, the parent company
of American Idol producer 19
Entertainment, private in a $1.3 billion deal.

The deal values the
company at $13.75 per share. CKX stockholders will also receive shares in FX
Luxury Realty, an affiliate of Sillerman’s that has real estate interests in
Las Vegas. FX Luxury Reality has licensed from CFX the rights to use Elvis
Presley’s and Muhammad Ali’s names and likenesses in new themed attractions.
CFX owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley; the
operations of Graceland; the rights to the name, image and likeness of Muhammad
Ali; and proprietary rights to the Idols television brand.

The sale of CKX will be
accomplished through a merger with 19X, a private company owned and controlled
by Sillerman, chairman and CEO of CFX, and Fuller, a director of CKX and the
CEO of 19 Entertainment. 19X will finance the acquisition through a combination
of equity and debt financing, with Sillerman, Fuller and other members of
senior management providing a substantial portion of the equity commitment.

The merger agreement
contains a 45-day "go-shop" provision pursuant to which CKX will
solicit competing proposals.

Sillerman noted:
"After two successful years of developing and exploiting the assets we
have acquired, during which time we have seen tremendous year over year growth,
we have come to realize that there is a substantial opportunity to capitalize
on the Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali assets in real estate and location-based
attractions. However, the pursuit of these opportunities would require a
significant investment of capital, which could hinder our ability to grow the
core area of our business and which is not consistent with the business plan
that we have always described to our stockholders. As a result, we thought it
best to provide our stockholders a capital realization opportunity as well as
the opportunity to participate in a new public company that will develop real
estate and location-based projects that exploit CKX's iconic intellectual
property content. We believe that the transactions that we announced today
accomplish that goal."