Image Entertainment Gets $2.6 Million in Stock Deal

Image Entertainment Inc. in Chatsworth has received a fresh infusion of cash, totaling $2.6 million, from billionaire John W. Kluge and his associate, Stuart Subotnick.

Kluge and Subotnick’s Image Investors Co., which already is Image Entertainment’s biggest stockholder, bought an additional 425,000 Image common shares from the company for $6 each, giving the partnership a total of 4.62 million shares, or 36% of Image Entertainment’s stock.

The pair also received a warrant to buy an additional 425,000 shares at the same price through Dec. 31, 1997. If the warrant is exercised, Kluge and Subotnick would own 5.04 million shares, or 40.3% of the Image stock then outstanding.

Image Entertainment said the new proceeds would be used as working capital, primarily for the company to exploit new agreements to distribute laser disc versions of several film libraries. Those agreements required Image to make “substantial advances and other payments,” the company said.

Kluge of Charlottesville, Va., has an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.