9 AUG 2022

Lionsgate could close the sale of Starz by the end of its fiscal year

Lionsgate could be on the verge of closing the sale of its networks and streaming business by the end of its current fiscal year, Jon Feltheimer, the company’s CEO, announced during its fiscal first quarter report.

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Jon Feltheimer

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Lionsgate could be on the verge of closing the sale of its networks and streaming business by the end of its current fiscal year, Jon Feltheimer, the company’s CEO, announced during its fiscal first quarter report. According to Feltheimer, the studio is in discussions with potential buyers to “separate the value of its streaming businesses.”

According to multiple sources, those potential buyers in the frame for Starz and streaming platform Starzplay include France’s Canal+ and streaming device maker Roku. “Some investors really like the fact that we have got this very specific targeted platform,”  Feltheimer said.

The firm's CEO added that Lionsgate was already making money in its domestic streaming business and had decided not to expand into new countries but rather to assess the market in its existing territories. “Instead of adding new territories, which everybody is doing, we are actually going the other way. We are scrubbing each territory to make sure it is somewhere we need to be,”  he commented.

Feltheimer also declared that there were sets of investors who saw the value in each side of the business – the studio and the streaming platforms – separately. Furthermore, he indicated that some investors could also be interested in “the immense value” of Lionsgate’s library, particularly following Amazon’s acquisition of MGM.

“Our library is honestly better than the MGM library. It is newer and fresher,”  Feltheimer assured, adding that Lionsgate was looking at ways of highlighting the value of that programming offer. “We still have to create a vehicle so that we can value both sides separately. That is what we are doing,”  he continued.

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