Lionsgate Confirms Plan To Spin Off Studio Business From Starz

After months of preparing the industry, Lionsgate has today confirmed that it is spinning the studio side of the business off. A move which will formally separate the studio business from the Starz business.

Throughout this year, Lionsgate has repeatedly reiterated its plans to create two separate companies. Today, details on that separation became much clearer. In a press release, Lionsgate confirmed that it had entered an agreement with Screaming Eagle to spin off its studio business, which includes its television studio and motion picture group segments.

The new company will launch as Lionsgate Studios Corp. Lionsgate will hold 87.3% of the total shares of Lionsgate Studios while Screaming Eagle will occupy the remaining 12.7% stake. In terms of Starz, the company will continue as it is, and remain wholly owned by Lionsgate.

“This transaction creates one of the world’s largest publicly-traded pure play content platforms with the ability to deliver significant incremental value to all of our stakeholders,” said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chair Michael Burns. “Coupled with the acquisition of the eOne platform scheduled to close next week, the expansion of our partnership with 3 Arts and the strong performance of our content slates, we’ve put together all of the pieces for a thriving standalone content company with a strong financial growth trajectory.”

As is always the chase with changes like this, the deal is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Providing there are no issues, Lionsgate expects the deal to close in the spring of 2024.

From the Starz subscriber perspective, nothing is expected to change in the immediate future. In the long term, things remain less clear. One of the benefits of the separation from Lionsgate’s perspective is that the new company may prove more appealing to a buyer.

If the new company is eventually sold, the outcome of that deal could have an impact on the content available. Until such a time, however, it should continue to be business as usual for Starz.