Anyone following the Lionsgate ticker will have seen an almost-double-digit jump for them over the last week. This is all off the back of rumors that they could have a European buyer lined up. Entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, examines what we know.
Several Reported Buyers
With the studio also having celebrated its first $1B performer at the box office with Michael, they’re definitely riding high. Among the potential buyers whose names have been attached to the rumored deal are both Mediawan and, interestingly, the newly-merged Banijay Group. Canal+ has also been mentioned, but reportedly denies an interest in bidding.
Regardless of the suitors, however, Lionsgate has definitely been working with an investment bank to assess if a deal would be worthwhile. Amusingly, Netflix has also been linked to a potential deal, but was quick to deny it. It seems the industry is determined that Netflix wants to find a merger of some sort, although they were lukewarm even on the early Warner Bros deal that did not happen and have not been particularly engaged on the M&A front.
Nothing Guaranteed
However, Lionsgate, which has already acknowledged that its lack of scale is becoming a competitive constraint in comparison to the Hollywood majors, has not (yet) guaranteed it will sell at all. They have been quick to assert that the studio may well remain independent, and this is simply consideration of all their options given the increasing need for scale.
However, even the rumors of a potential merger were enough to see Lionsgate shares climb, bringing the entity’s overall value to more than $4B.
We’ve seen a spate of consolidation in entertainment recently, with the Paramount-Warner Bros deal and the Banijay-All3Media merger, which has now closed successfully. Will we actually see Lionsgate make a sale, too? It’s too early to tell, but there’s certainly plenty of interest.
Film and Television 