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Lionsgate CFO James Barge said today the company is on track to close the separation of Lionsgate Studios and Starz by mid-to-late April.
During a Q&A at the Morgan Stanley media conference, he said the split has been in the works for a long time but was held up by one thing or another.
“We didn’t know there would be a pandemic, writer strikes and and then, somewhere along the way, we made a fantastic acquisition of eOne. So there have been quite a few things. But we are definitely there. We’re on we’re on track for a mid to late April close,” Barge said.
He said the rationale for the deal — unlocking shareholder value for both sides of the business — is as strong as ever.
“You’re seeing a lot of people in the industry starting to segregate out their their linear business. The good news is, is we don’t really have a linear business. We have Starz, which is premium, is digital first” with 70% or revenue from digital this year. The studio library is strong, along with TV and film production capabilities and an ownership stake in talent management company 3Arts. The separation has “been all about valuation, helping drive shareholder value, where we don’t feel as a combined company, that we’re getting the valuation. We look like a conglomerate media company in the space that is competing with … the Comcasts and the Disneys, when in reality Starz is a completely unique business, totally misunderstood.”
PREVIOUSLY: Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer anticipates the long-pending separation of Lionsgate Studios and Starz won’t occur until this spring, April at the earliest.
“We’re still in regulatory review of our joint proxy/registration statement with the SEC. Given this timing, we will need to update the proxy with financials as of December 31, 2024, which will take a few additional weeks. Pending further SEC review, we expect this would lead to a shareholder meeting in mid to late April with separation shortly thereafter,” he said during a conference call Thursday to discuss Lionsgate’s third-quarter earnings.
“Now the industry has reached an inflection point, and the next phase of streaming plays to Starz’s strengths: more bundles, the ability to provide digital services to linear platforms and the opportunity to capitalize on a shifting and disrupted environment to scale its business.”
Lionsgate unveiled split plans some time ago but it’s taking longer than many expected to become official. Asked about that on the call, CFO James Barge said Lionsgate heard back from the SEC this morning with a few more requests and the company is responding, as well as putting together its year-end 2024 financials for the commission. He said the split would take effect pretty immediately after the shareholder meeting, which must be called 30 days after final SEC approval.
Feltheimer also announced stand-alone capital structures for new Lionsgate Studios and Starz, including bank commitments for an $800 million revolving credit facility at Studios that activates at separation.
PREVIOUSLY: Lionsgate’s television production saw revenue and profit surge, driven by an increase in episodic deliveries, licensing of library content and a continued rebound from last year’s strikes, it said Thursday in reporting third-quarter 2025 earnings.
Motion pictures continued softer although that has turned around in the current quarter. Total revenue of $970 million, down a hair from $905 million, was well above Wall Street forecasts. Net losses narrowed sharply to $18.5 million from $107.4 million.
TV production saw revenue surge 63% to $405 million in the last three months of 2024, Lionsgate’s fiscal Q3, with segment profit of $60.9 million, up from $9.1 million.
Trailing 12-month library revenue, a key driver for the company, grew 22% to a record $954 million.
The motion picture business saw revenue and segment profit decreased to $309 million (from $443 million) and $83.6 million (from $100.4 million), respectively, on tough comparisons with last year’s theatrical releases of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Saw X. The studio had a tough second half of 2024 until Best Christmas Pageant Ever hit in November. It reversed the trend in the current quarter with two top January openings in Den of Thieves: Pantera and Flight Risk.
Overall, studio revenue of $713.8 million nosed up 3% from the prior year quarter. Operating income of $112 million jumped 45%.
Revenue and profit dipped at Starz. North American OTT subscribers grew by 170,000 sequentially. Revenue went to $344 million from $417 million and profit fell to $25 million from $85 million.
The Lionsgate Studios and Starz will soon split into two stand-alone companies.
“I’m pleased to report a strong quarter in which our businesses performed well in a challenging environment,” said CEO Jon Feltheimer.
“We approach the separation of the studio and Starz with a record performance from our library, our Motion Picture Group converting a number of midbudget films to profitability, our Television Group shepherding an extensive portfolio of premium properties and Starz returning to domestic OTT subscriber growth on a sequential basis.”
