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Lionsgate considers sale or spin-off of Starz five years after $4.4bn buy-out

Starz’s US original P-Valley

US studio Lionsgate is set to explore spinning off or selling Starz, the division that includes the US cablenet of the same name and international streamer StarzPlay.

The company issued a filing earlier this week confirming that its board of directors has authorised its management team to “explore potential capital markets alternatives” for Starz “including, but not limited to, a full or partial spin-off, split-off, issuance of a tracking stock or other transactions.”

The Hunger Games and Mad Men studio, which acquired Starz for US$4.4bn in 2016, said during its fiscal 2022 second quarter earnings call yesterday it is looking to capitalise on the latest wave of media consolidation that has seen Amazon make a move for MGM and Discovery and WarnerMedia plan a merger.

During the company’s earnings call, Lionsgate vice-chairman Michael Burns said: “While we continue to realise substantial synergies from bringing Lionsgate and Starz together, we also see the opportunity to potentially unlock significant shareholder value under a scenario where investors have the ability to value our studio assets and Starz separately.

“Recent transaction multiples in the media space give us confidence that exploring alternate paths is prudent. Additionally, we believe that a number of the structures we’re considering would allow Lionsgate and Starz to preserve many of the operational benefits we’re currently achieving within a single corporate structure.”

Starz’s US originals include Outlander, The White Queen, Power and P-Valley, while its international streaming business StarzPlay, which has 7.5m subscribers and is available in 60 countries, is in the midst of an originals push.

This has led to StarzPlay teaming up with the likes of TF1, StudioCanal, Canal+, Mediapro and Fremantle on French- and Spanish-language originals such as A French Case, All Those Things We Never Said, Express and Nacho Vidal: An Industry XXXL.

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