CNBC reported it this morning, and a SEC filing confirmed it just a little while later. The company said in the filing, “as negotiations progress we have increased our focus on the possibility of spinning our studio business, creating a number of financial and strategic benefits. In that regard, we are continuing productive negotiations with prospective strategic and financial partners on both sides of our business.” Lionsgate was planning to auction off a 20% stake in the spun-off STARZ. Now that they plan to spin off the studio instead, it’s likely that it’ll be that same percentage. When the plan was to spin off STARZ, Roku, DIRECTV, private equity firm Apollo Group and Vivendi’s Canal Plus were all in talks to buy the 20% stake. It’s unclear if they’ll still be interested in the studio though.
STARZ will be rebranded in 35 countries
STARZ will be getting the plus treatment as well. Being rebranded as Lionsgate+ in 35 countries. The countries haven’t been named, but it likely won’t include the US. As STARZ CEO Jeffrey Hirsch said to Deadline, “operating under Lionsgate+ internationally brings a distinct and differentiated identity in an increasingly crowded international marketplace and builds on the brand equity in the Lionsgate name that our extensive research has proven is strong around the world.” This is a similar move to what ViacomCBS did with CBS All Access, rebranding it as Paramount+. Which made sense from a worldwide perspective, as Paramount is a pretty large movie studio around the world. And is under the ViacomCBS umbrella as well. So customers know to associate the two with each other. And it’s a better name than CBS All Access too.
