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Lionsgate’s Michael Burns Won’t Discuss Summit But Predicts 2012 Normalcy: UBS Confab

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday December 7, 2011 @ 8:05am PSTTags: Carl Icahn, Charlie Sheen, Epix, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Tyler Perry, Michael Burns, Michael Burns Carl Icahn, Orange Is The New Black, The Expendables, The Hunger Games, TV Guide Network

Lionsgate SummitLionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns had to disappoint analysts who wanted him to open up about the big question of the day for his company: What’s going on with its reported merger talks with Summit Entertainment? “I’m not going to talk about any specific deal,” he said at the  UBS Annual Global Media and Communications Conference. He noted, though, that a consolidation of independent film and TV companies is “a natural thing to happen.” He assured the group that Lionsgate is only interested in deals that add to its value, and don’t require it to either issue stock or take on additional debt. “We’re looking to delever, not lever up,” he says.

With that out of the way, he spoke candidly about the company’s plans for next year where he says “you’ll see us steady state for the first time” cranking out about a dozen movies and about three new TV shows. He’s encouraged about a plan to develop a TV series for ABC based on The Lincoln Lawyer – and Charlie Sheen’s Anger Management. ”I’ve known Charlie a long, long time,” Burns said. “Our goal is to keep Charlie working, keep him healthy — and we have a great partner in FX.” Burns says that a series it’s developing for READ MORE »

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Icahn Offers $7.50 Per Lionsgate Share; Annual Meeting Delayed Until After Oct. 12

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 31, 2010 @ 10:17am PDTTags: Carl Icahan Hostile Takeover, Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Lionsgate, Carl Icahn Tender Offer, Lionsgate Annual Meeting, Lionsgate Debt-For-Equity, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Shares, Mark Rachesky

Every Icahn move has deep reverberations inside the film/television studio whose management is increasingly paranoid about how their actions will be viewed by him. What a destabilizing situation. Now Carl Icahn’s hostile takeover attempt intensifies with his $7.50 a … Read More »

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Canada Sides With Lionsgate Over Icahn

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday July 28, 2010 @ 7:49pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Canadian Petition, Carl Icahn Lionsgate Lawsuit, Lionsgate Carl Icahn, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Stock

The British Columbia Securities Commission dismissed Carl Icahn’s request for that cease trade order against Lionsgate. (Icahn Files Lawsuit Against Lionsgate Board.) The film/TV studio fending off his hostile takeover said it was “pleased”.

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Lionsgate Suddenly Dilutes Icahn Holdings

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday July 20, 2010 @ 1:44pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Proxy Fight, Carl Icahn Tender Offer, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Carl Icahn, Lionsgate Deleveraging Transaction, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Stock, Lionsgate Stockholders, Lionsgate Tender Offer, Wall Street

Ceasefire Ends; Lionsgate Ponders Icahn’s $6.50 A Share Bid

So now Carl Icahn owns only 33.5% of the film and TV studio, and not the 37.9% he had as of yesterday. Nasty, nasty, nasty. Though it is interesting … Read More »

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Lionsgate & Icahn Agree To 10-Day Ceasefire

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday July 9, 2010 @ 4:00pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Proxy Fight, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Carl Icahn, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Management, Lionsgate Tender Offer

lionsgate2_logoBREAKING NEWS! … UPDATE: Today, Lionsgate Entertainment filed Form 8-K paperwork with the SEC that it has entered into a “Material Definitive Agreement” with Carl Icahn agreeing ”to work together on certain acquisition opportunities beginning on July … Read More »

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Can Lionsgate Cap Icahn Shares At 38%?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday July 1, 2010 @ 8:56pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Shares, Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate Management, Lionsgate Stockholders, Lionsgate Tender Offer, Michael Burns, Poison Pill Defense

feltheimer-200Welcome to the real-life game of Survivor: Wall Street. Lionsgate management tonight is trying to outwit, outplay, and outlast Carl Icahn before he effects a hostile takeover of the movie/TV studio for his son Brett. Lionsgate tonight announced it’s putting into place a “Shareholder Rights Plan” — i.e. a poison pill defense — to cap Icahn at 38% of its stock (he is currently at 37.9%) so he can’t do a “creeping bid” through open market purchases like he did today or private market transactions. ”If he wants control of the Company, he should make a bid that is fair to all shareholders along the lines of a permitted bid described in the press release below,” a studio insider tells me.

icahn200Today, Icahn’s stake rose to 37.9%, or 44.8M shares, of Lionsgate. With 12+% more stock, he can become its majority stockholder. And then Lionsgate’s 12-member board, and the studio’s management team of Jon Feltheimer and Michael Burns, all have a target on their backs. Icahn’s $7 a share tender offer expired at midnight Wednesday, and left him with a 33.9% stake in Lionsgate. (Icahn Now Owns 33.9% Of Lionsgate) Today, he acquired an additional 4% more of the company by buying on the open market. Lionsgate’s immediate reaction was effectively to enact a poison pill defense. But it enacted a poison pill months ago — to prevent Icahn from accumulating over 20% of Lionsgate stock through his tender offer — and Canadian regulators nixed that measure. Can that happen again?

Here is tonight’s Lionsgate statement:

lionsgate-logoSANTA MONICA, Calif., and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 1, 2010 — Lionsgate (the “Company”) today announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a Shareholder Rights Plan that is designed to encourage the fair and equal treatment of Lionsgate’s shareholders in connection with any initiative to acquire effective control of the Company.

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More Sparring Between Carl Icahn And Lionsgate Management

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday June 28, 2010 @ 3:43pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Finance, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Film Library, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover
Mike Fleming

Carl Icahn came out swinging again today, and Lionsgate hit back. Icahn released a statement answering the question of why he offered $7 per share when the stock dropped to $4.85 several months ago. Icahn said that the only positives that served to enhance the share value since the stock … Read More »

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Michael Burns And Carl Icahn Break Bread

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday June 26, 2010 @ 9:36am PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Carl Icahn Proxy Fight, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Finance, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate MGM Merger, Michael Burns, Michael Burns Carl Icahn, Studios

icahn lgEXCLUSIVE: Reliable sources tells me that Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns flew to NYC on Wednesday night to have dinner with Carl Icahn “to see if they could work together and avert a hostile takeover of the studio”. This is … Read More »

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Lionsgate Stock Jumps As Joins Russell 2000; Icahn Slams Lionsgate-MGM Merger

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday June 25, 2010 @ 4:14pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Hostile Takeover, Lionsgate MGM Merger, Lionsgate Stock, Wall Street

icahn lgAnother day, another brawl between Lionsgate and its biggest shareholder Carl Icahn as he attempts a hostile takeover of the studio. Today, he gave an interview to Dow Jones newswire saying he wouldn’t rule out supporting a merger between … Read More »

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