Lionsgate Leisure has accomplished the total separation of its studio and Starz companies into two standalone, publicly-traded firms. They begin buying and selling right this moment, Lionsgate Studios on the NYSE, Starz on the Nasdaq.
The separation was permitted by an awesome majority of shareholders at a particular shareholder assembly final month, with over 99% of each lessons of Lionsgate shareholders, A and B. The twin share construction has now been collapsed right into a single class of inventory.
The separation is designed to unlock incremental worth by creating two pure play firms “in a position to pursue their very own strategic, monetary and operational priorities and entice traders drawn to the strengths of their respective companies,” Lionsgate mentioned right this moment of the cut up that has been within the works for over three years.
Lionsgate Studios will likely be one of many greatest pure-play public content material firms, releasing 30 to 40 movies a 12 months, together with a dozen large theatrical releases, and creating greater than 100 exhibits at its scripted and unscripted tv companies, shepherding a portfolio of manufacturers and franchises, managing a 20,000-plus title movie and tv library, and working expertise administration and manufacturing firm 3 Arts Leisure.
“We started our journey 25 years in the past as a brand new and completely different type of studio, dedicated to daring, authentic content material, agnostic to distribution platform, disciplined in our execution and powered by a deep library and an agile and entrepreneurial tradition,” mentioned Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. “Right this moment we’re launching an thrilling new chapter as a number one pure play content material firm, adapting our confirmed strengths, embracing our rising alternatives, and bringing our distinctive and not-easily-replicable portfolio of property to bear on our mission of making vital incremental worth for our companions, audiences and shareholders.
“I wish to thank our colleagues at STARZ for his or her many contributions to the Lionsgate household over the previous eight years. We stay up for persevering with to collaborate carefully with them, and we’re assured of their success as a standalone firm,” he mentioned.
The cut up will convey a better profile to Starz , buying and selling as of right this moment underneath the inventory image STRRZ, and its President and CEO Jeff Hirsch, who has transitioned the community with about 70% of its income now fueled by digital. It has a subscriber base of 20 million within the U.S and Canada as of year-end 2024. Hirsch has billed Starz as a complementary providing to different streaming companies. It’s inked a handful of bundling offers and mentioned right this moment it’s “poised to develop via capitalizing on new bundling, distribution and different partnership alternatives.”
Programming focuses on core demos of girls and underrepresented audiences with franchises like Outlander and Energy, together with a number of Energy Universe spinoff sequence and the anticipated Outlander: Blood of My Blood prequel sequence.
“Right this moment marks an vital milestone in our historical past as we unlock vital worth as a standalone enterprise and advance our place because the main premium leisure vacation spot for girls and underrepresented audiences,” mentioned Hirsch.
“This separation comes at a pivotal time for the {industry}. Our sturdy steadiness sheet, compelling programming lineup and industry-leading tech stack will allow us to be nimble and capitalize on development alternatives, whereas driving long-term success for our companions, audiences, workers and shareholders. We’re grateful to Jon [Feltheimer] and all the Lionsgate staff for the previous eight years of collaboration in addition to for the continued partnership we’ll preserve, and I stay up for starting this new chapter for STARZ.”
