Legendary Offers to Take Over Lionsgate, Sending Shares Up 16%
Summary
Bloomberg reported the Apollo-backed producer of Dune and Godzilla revived talks with a bid that values Lionsgate at about $3.5 billion plus debt.
"Legendary Entertainment has revived talks to acquire Lionsgate Studios and submitted a takeover offer, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, October 20, citing people familiar with the matter. Lionsgate shares rose more than 16% after the report, Investing.com reported, and Deadline and Variety also reported the stock jump. Representatives for Legendary, Lionsgate and Apollo Global Management declined to comment, according to Investing.com.
The offer values Lionsgate at about $3.5 billion plus roughly $1.9 billion in debt, following Lionsgate's separation from Starz, The Playlist reported, citing Bloomberg via Variety. Legendary, which is backed by Apollo and run by CEO Joshua Grode, would use Lionsgate to distribute its own films, the report said. Legendary has previously released its movies through Universal, Netflix and Warner Bros. Bloomberg reported last year that Legendary had considered a bid, and the two companies have held intermittent talks since, Investing.com reported.
A deal would give Legendary, the company behind the Dune films, the MonsterVerse and A Minecraft Movie, a theatrical distribution operation and Lionsgate's film and TV library, which includes The Hunger Games and John Wick and generates about $1 billion in annual revenue, according to Investing.com. Lionsgate is scheduled to report earnings on November 5."
