Legendary renews Lionsgate Studios interest with $3.5bn takeover offer

Seth Rogen in the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio

Apple TV

Legendary Entertainment has renewed its interest in acquiring fellow American studio group Lionsgate Studios, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Legendary, which is backed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management, has submitted an offer of US$3.5bn (including the assumption of US$1.9bn in debt) for Lionsgate Studios, per Bloomberg.

This latest offer comes 15 months after reports first surfaced that Legendary was in the early stages of exploring a deal to acquire Lionsgate Studios, which had at the time recently been spun off from network and streamer Starz.

Lionsgate Studios, alongside AMC Global Media and A+E Global Media, are among a group of US media outfits that are considered likely takeover or merger targets over the next couple of years.

Earlier this year, reports circulated that both Mediawan, Banijay and Bollore Group were also interested in Lionsgate Studios.

Shortly thereafter, Banijay ruled itself out of contention as it prioritised its integration with All3Media, though execs last week talked up interest in the US scripted market at Mipcom. Meanwhile, Mediawan last week announced it was partnering with Reese Witherspoon to buy back Hello Sunshine from Candle Media after earlier this buying Peter Chernin’s studio North Road.

Legendary’s TV credits include Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV), Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (Netflix) and Drops of God (Apple TV+), while its film franchises include Godzilla, Dune and A Minecraft Movie.

Lionsgate’s television slate includes The Studio (Apple TV), The Hunting Wives (Netflix), Ghosts (CBS) and The Rookie (ABC). On the film side, it is behind franchises such as John Wick, The Hunger Games and Twilight. It also owns a library of more than 20,000 film and TV titles.

Lionsgate shares jumped 15% to US$12.20 following Bloomberg’s report.