Lionsgate and Starz today announced the closing of the transaction under which Lionsgate has acquired Starz for approximately $4.4Bn in cash and stock.
The deal creates a vertically integrated global content platform icluding all Lionsgate and Starz assets, apps and services.
Lionsgate will operate Starz as a wholly-owned subsidiary. With the completion of the acquisition, the combined company is well positioned to increase its content creation capabilities, enhance its leadership in premium scripted programming and scale its global distribution footprint. Chris Albrecht will continue to serve as President and CEO of Starz, reporting to Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, and will also join Lionsgate’s Executive Management Committee.
After planning the integration of Lionsgate and Starz for the past five months, we are more excited than ever at the value created by the combination of our two great companies,” said Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns. “Chris and his team have built Starz into a strong brand, a world-class distribution platform and a premium programming leader, and we’re delighted to welcome them to the Lionsgate family. Working together, we believe that the strategic opportunities are enormous, and we’re pleased that our shareholders recognize the transformative potential of the transaction.”
The companies noted that integration planning is substantially complete in a number of areas. Starz’s home entertainment and television distribution operations are being consolidated into Lionsgate’s worldwide home entertainment and television distribution businesses, respectively. The consolidation further strengthens an industry leader in packaged media and digital entertainment marketing and international television sales.
About Starz and Lionsgate
Starz is a leading global media and entertainment company that provides premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television networks and produces and distributes content for worldwide audiences, including its investment in the Starz Play Arabia OTT service.
Starz is home to the flagship STARZ® brand with 24.5 million subscribers in the United States as of September 30, 2016, with the Starz Encore SM network at 31.5 million subscribers.
Starz provides high-quality, entertaining premium subscription video programming with 17 premium pay TV channels and associated on-demand and online services, including the Starz app.
Sold through U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, telecommunications companies, and other online and digital platforms, Starz offers subscribers more than 5,000 distinct premium television episodes and feature films every year and up to 1,500 every month, including STARZ Original series, first-run movies and other popular movie and television programming.
One of the largest independent television businesses in the world, Lionsgate’s slate of premium quality series encompasses nearly 90 shows on more than 40 different networks. These include the ground-breaking Orange is the New Black, the fan favorite Nashville, the syndication success The Wendy Williams Show, the acclaimed drama The Royals, the Golden Globe-nominated Casual, the breakout success Greenleaf and hit Starz series including Outlander, Black Sails, Survivor’s Remorse and Power, the second highest-rated premium pay television series of 2016.
The Company’s feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me and John Wick series, the critically-acclaimed La La Land, Hacksaw Ridge, Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, CBS Films/Lionsgate’s Hell or High Water, Roadside Attractions’ Manchester by the Sea, Codeblack Films’ breakout concert film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films’ Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.
Lionsgate’s home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of more than 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment and Starz brands are synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
