Lionsgate Nears Separation Of Studio And Starz​on January 27, 2025 at 11:33 pm

Lionsgate today filed an amended registration statement incorporating the latest comments fomr the Security and Exchange Commission, moving it a step closer to the planned separation of Lionsgate Studios and Starz.

The joint proxy is expected to be declared effective by the SEC soon, at which point the company led by CEO Jon Feltheimer will set a special meeting of shareholders 30 days later.

Last week, Lionsgate extended its multi-year theatrical output deal with Starz ahead of the full separation.

Lionsgate Studios was already spun out into a separate public company last year, stock symbol LION, but the businesses are still linked. Studios — the TV studio, motion picture group and film and television libraries — separated by merging with Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp., a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) led by Eli Baker. After a long dry spell, the film studio has been having a nice run with Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Den of Thieves 2 and Flight Risk.

The idea is that both parts of the business will be better situated for growth on their own, including M&A on either the merger or acquisition side.

Standalone Starz, which will trade under the stock symbol STRZ, will be led by current CEO Jeff Hirsch. He has said the streaming platform and pay TV channel could be an aggregator of other small platforms.  

Standalone cable networks are going to inundate investors soon with Comcast also planning to spin off most of  NBCUniversal’s linear channels into a standalone company, and Warner Bros. Discovery appearing to position itself for the same.