(Bloomberg) – Legendary Entertainment, an independent film and TV studio responsible for the “Dune” trilogy and “a Minecraft film”, is considering the acquisition of Lionsgate Studios, according to people.
Legendary, which has the support of Apollo Global Management, made the first contact with the company after Lionsgate concluded its separation from the TV network and streaming service Starz Entertainment in May, the sources said, who preferred not to identify themselves because it is confidential information. Initial conversations have revolved around a possible partnership to produce some films, allowing Legendary to evaluate how companies would work together and should advance with an acquisition offer, they explained.
Representatives of Legendary and Lionsgate preferred not to comment. Lionsgate shares rose 8.6% after the news was released by Bloomberg and closed the day up 20%.
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With a current market value of US $ 1.8 billion, Lionsgate holds popular franchise rights such as “John Wick”, “Hunger Games” and “Twilight”, as well as offering Legendary a theaters distribution network. Lionsgate also produced TV successful series such as AMC’s “Mad Men”.
“A Minecraft Movie”, co -produced by Legendary and released by Warner Bros. Studio. Discovery in April, is the long -term feature film so far this year, having sold tickets worth $ 423.9 million in the US and Canada.
The possibility of acquiring Lionsgate by Legendary “makes sense, as it is a studio focused exclusively on cinema,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Geetha Ranganathan in a statement. She pointed out that the vast catalog of content is responsible for a third of Lionsgate’s recipe, with high profit margin. “We suspect that Legendary’s interest may encourage others to consider offers.”
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Josh Grode, CEO of Legendary, said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek in 2024 that “Apollo understands our business, knows the media market and has capital available to invest.”
Last year, Legendary and Apollo were associated with a possible acquisition of Paramount Pictures studio, and then a possible purchase of the Global Paramount Controller. However, this business is being closed by David Ellison’s Skydance Media LLC.
Read more: studio behind ‘dune’ seeks growth even without agreement with Paramount
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(Update with previous comments from the Legendary CEO in the seventh paragraph.)
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