Lionsgate confirmed Thursday that it is indeed looking to spin off Starz and said it should have a deal in place by the end of the summer, with closure occurring by the end of 2022.
“We are engaged in a robust and productive process with our bankers and a number of potential strategic and financial partners," Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer told equity analysts during Lionsgate's fiscal Q4 earnings call.
It was reported earlier this month that Roku and private equity firm Apollo Global Management are jointly bidding for a piece of the premium programmer. Vivendi’s Canal Plus and DirecTV are also said to be interested.
“Obviously, anything can change. We’re in an incredibly disruptive environment right now. But based on the conversations we’re having, we think that’s the appropriate time frame,” Feltheimer added.
Lionsgate paid $4.4 billion to buy Starz in 2016, but right now is underwater with the asset and is looking to extract more value from it.
Streaming subscribers served by Starz across global regions were up 47% year over year to 24.5 million. Factoring in Starz Arabia, Starz now has a global OTT scale of nearly 36 million customers.
“Although streaming is not an end in itself, it is a very efficient way to bring content to our customers worldwide,” Feltheimer said. ▪️
