icahnCarl Icahn has extended his offer to Lionsgate shareholders to 8 PM on June 1, but his campaign seems to be losing steam. He had 7 million shares, or 6.3% of the company tendered two weeks ago, but now is down to 4.6 million shares, or 4%, according to sources. So 2.5 million shares withdrew their tenders for Icahn’s offer of $7  per share. The extension is the third for Icahn, who recently has been discussing  a truce with Lionsgate management.

Icahn didn’t seem in conciliatory mode today. “We find reprehensible Lionsgate’s recent announcements regarding the board’s approval of the establishment of a trust that would hold approximately $16 million in cash to fund severance obligations that would purportedly be due to members of senior management should their employment be terminated without ’cause’ in connection with a ‘change in control,’” Icahn said in a statement. “We believe this latest action, together with the board’s failed and misguided attempts to implement a poison pill and its reckless retention…of no less than six professional advisory firms (two financial advisors, three law firms and a public relations firm) to defend against our offer, shows just how far removed this board has become from its mission of holding management accountable and safeguarding the interests of shareholders.”

Lionsgate had no comment on this latest verbal salvo.

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