ICAHN’S LIONSGATE EXODUS COST HIM MORE THAN $500 MILLION

It may go down as corporate raider Carl Icahn’s biggest miscalculation: his decision in 2011 to sell his 33-percent stake in Lionsgate at $7.00 a share after his failed takeover attempt. On Wednesday Lionsgate shares hit an all-time high of $16.88 on the NYSE, at one point hitting $17.08. The 3-percent gain came after B. […]

LIONSGATE CONSUMMATES MARRIAGE WITH SUMMIT

Lionsgate has agreed to acquire Twilight studio Summit Entertainment in a deal said to be worth $412.5 million. In an announcement late today (Friday), Lionsgate Co-chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns said, “We are uniting two powerful entertainment brands, bringing together two world-class feature film franchises, to establish a commanding position […]

REPORT: LIONSGATE TO ACQUIRE TWILIGHT STUDIO

Having failed in its effort to acquire MGM last year, Lionsgate is expected to announce as early as this week that it will be be buying Summit Entertainment for $400 plus the assumption of $300 million in debt, published reports said over the weekend. Lionsgate had spent much of the past year fending off takeover […]

SPYGLASS MAY TAKE OVER AILING MGM

Spyglass Entertainment Co-chairmen Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are reportedly close to closing a complicated deal under which they would end up running MGM, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Wednesday), citing people familiar with the situation. The deal would involve converting MGM’s debilitating debt into equity and Barber and Birnbaum receiving an ownership stake […]

LIONS GATE REPORTS QUARTERLY LOSS

Lions Gate Entertainment’s battle with activist investor Carl Icahn is drawing blood — its own, it would seem. The company on Monday posted a first-quarter loss of $64.1 million, $7.3 million of which was attributed to “corporate defense costs related to shareholder activist activities.” It reported a net profit of $35 million for the comparable […]

TRUCE CALLED IN LIONS GATE/ICAHN FEUD

Lions Gate Entertainment and maverick investor Carl Icahn said on Friday that they had agreed to a ten-day truce so that they could “work together on certain acquisition opportunities.” A lengthy legal document filed with the SEC failed to spell out what sort of acquisition opportunities the two sides might be working together on — […]

ICAHN NOW HOLDS 37.9 PERCENT OF LIONS GATE

Carl Icahn now owns enough shares in Lions Gate Entertainment to call the shots in many of the company’s dealings, after raising his stake to 37.9 percent by buying 4.6 million shares of the company on the open market Wednesday after his tender offer closed on Tuesday. He will now be able — if he […]

LIONSGATE PURSUING MGM AGAIN

As one study about lions puts it, “Lion mating is notoriously quick, repetitive, and unsuccessful.” That description pretty well fits the recent courting efforts of Lionsgate studios to come together with MGM, the home of 86-year-old Leo the Lion. According to published reports, they are at it again. Citing people with knowledge of the situation, […]

ICAHN VOWS PROXY FIGHT TO WREST CONTROL OF LIONS GATE

Carl Icahn is showing no sign of retreating in his effort to take control of Lions Gate Entertainment. He told today’s (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times that he is extending his offer to buy shares in the company at $7.00 each and at the same time is dropping his stipulation that for his offer to take […]

LIONS GATE BOARD BUTS HEADS WITH ICAHN AGAIN

The tug of war between the management and board of Lions Gate Entertainment on the one hand and maverick investor Carl Icahn on the other continued on Wednesday as the board urged shareholders to reject Icahn’s latest bid of $7 a share to buy the company — an amount that values the movie and TV […]