Not surprisingly, Lionsgate is trumpeting the fact that Carl Icahn has been dealt another court loss. The New York State Supreme Court just ruled against Icahn’s injunction to unwind Lionsgate’s July 20th deleveraging manuever  that had the effect of diluting Icahn’s stake in Lionsgate from around 37% to around 32.8% and increasing studio board member Marc Rachesky’s stake from around 19% to around 29%. Icahn also lost his attempt to stop Rachesky from voting his shares in the Lionsgate vs Icahn proxy fight with the showdown set for the shareholders meeting on December 14th. Said the court: “It seems to me that the essence of a fight for control of a public company is which faction can win the hearts and proxies of the shareholders. Although the percentage of shares owned by a faction is a starting point to win this battle, persuasion is the ultimate vehicle for success.”

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