Lionsgate Postpones Split Of Starz And Studio Until First Quarter Of 2024, Citing Strike, eOne Deal And “Disruptive Marketplace”

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the planned split of Lionsgate and Starz will take place in the first quarter of 2024, a change from the prior outlook for early fall of this year.

The company has spent the past couple of years evaluating a range of strategic options, landing on the split as the best way to unlock value for the studio and streaming sides of the company.

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“We remain committed to the separation of Lionsgate and Starz,” Feltheimer said during the company’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts. “With the impact of the eOne acquisition on regulatory approvals, uncertainties surrounding the strike and our efforts to create the most efficient capital structure within a disruptive marketplace, we anticipate that the separation will now take place in the first quarter of calendar 2024.”

Lionsgate confirmed last week it is acquiring eOne from Hasbro for $500 million, and Feltheimer said on the call that the deal would be “immediately and highly accretive” to its financial results. The transaction “allows us to do what we do best: adding 6500 titles to one of the largest and most valuable libraries in the world, growing our portfolio of brands …. continuing to strengthen our scripted & unscripted television business and scaling our operations in Canada and the UK.”

Asked during the call why the company would detour from its long-in-the-works strategic process in order to go after eOne, Feltheimer said it came down to timing. “We felt this was something that we really didn’t want to miss,” he said.

CFO Jimmy Barge said the eOne deal “puts us in a much stronger position strategically and financially.”

A special shareholder vote will be held before the Starz-Lionsgate split can be finalized.

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