NCR acquires The New Release
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) announced today that it has purchased the remaining equity in TNR Holdings Corp., the second largest DVD kiosk operator in North America, in order to expand the NCR SelfServ™ Entertainment portfolio across North America under the Blockbuster Express brand. NCR had been a minority stakeholder in the company since a deal in the Summer of 2008.

TNR Holdings Corp, based in Houston TX and known as The New Release, operates over 2,500 kiosks under the brands MovieCube™ and The New Release™ in supermarkets and grocery stores throughout North America. NCR will leverage TNR’s operator skills and retail merchandising experience as it accelerates the installation of state-of-the-art Blockbuster Express branded DVD rental kiosks in retail locations such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

John Bruno, executive vice president, NCR Industry Solutions Group said, “As the global leader in self-service solutions, NCR is applying our expertise to the entertainment industry to offer consumers a fast, easy and convenient way to buy and rent movies, music and video games.”

It will be interesting to see how this affects Blockbuster as they go through negotiations to avoid bankruptcy and store closures. Blockbuster has been hit hard recently by media reports that they had retained counsel to work through potential bankruptcy issues.

See the full press release.