Image Entertainment Inc. said Nyx Acquisitions Inc. is in breach of a merger agreement between the two companies because it failed to make a required payment by its deadline.

Chatsworth-based Image Entertainment said in a statement late Thursday night that it is considering options, including terminating the deal, because San Francisco-based Nyx didn’t make a $1.3 million payment by a Jan. 20 deadline, two days after Image filed its proxy statement in connection with the deal.

After bypassing richer deals over the past two years, the home-entertainment distributor in November agreed to sell itself to Nyx for $60.2 million in cash plus assumption of debt. After the agreement was announced, Nyx made an initial deposit of $500,000 into a trust account, but has not made the second payment, Image said.

Nyx is a division of Q Black LLC, a privately held new-media and global investment group. The transaction had been scheduled to close during the first quarter.

Image shares Friday closed down 15 cents, or 14 percent, to 93 cents on the Nasdaq.