Lionsgate, is an American Canadian-domiciled entertainment and media company.
They distributed every installment in the Saw franchise.
History[]
Foundation[]
The Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was founded on July 10, 1997, in Vancouver, Canada, by Frank Giustra and Avi Federgreen with a $16 million investment. Other investors, including Keyur Patel and G. Scott Paterson, supported them with another $40 million. After his retirement as the CEO of Yorkton, an investment bank, Giustra merged Lionsgate with the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Beringer Gold Corp. Soon afterward, Beringer's mining assets were sold off.
Acquisitions[]
Lionsgate started a series of acquisitions to establish itself in the film industry. The company bought several small production facilities and distributors, starting with Montreal-based Cinépix Film Properties, later renamed Lionsgate Films, and North Shore Studios, renamed Lionsgate Studios, in Vancouver. Lionsgate also acquired Mandalay Television from Peter Guber for a 4% Lionsgate stake. In 1998, Lionsgate helped Guber found Mandalay Pictures with a 45% investment. Finally, in June, Lionsgate purchased the International Movie Group Inc., a bankrupt film distributor previously invested in by Guber and Yorktown Securities, for its film library. Peter Strauss became the president of the company's US film and TV production and distribution subsidiary, Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc.
Upon completing its first year of operation, Lionsgate registered a revenue of $42.2 million with a loss of $397,000. As a result, the company's share price dropped to a low of $1.40, which limited the corporation's ability to make acquisitions via stock swaps. Instead, Lionsgate made its subsequent acquisition of Termite Art Productions, a reality-based television production company, for $2.75 million by issuing three convertible promissory notes. In addition, Frank Giustra had the shareholders vote to move the company's public listing from the Toronto Stock Exchange to the American Stock Exchange, along with a two-for-one stock consolidation, to qualify for greater exposure that might boost share value.
In January 1999, Roman Doroniuk became president and Chief Executive Officer of Lionsgate, which caused the corporation's financial operations to be moved to Doroniuk's offices in Toronto in April. The corporate headquarters, however, remained in Vancouver. Lionsgate created US-based Avalanche Films and acquired half of Sterling Home Entertainment. Again, Lionsgate registered losses of $9.3 million on revenues of $78.3 million in its second year. Most of these losses came from its stake in Mandalay Pictures. Therefore, Lionsgate put its studios up for sale. TV operations were changed to non-network hourlong series instead of riskier network shows, which led to the end of Lionsgate's relationship with Mandalay Television. The corporation sought out more capital and cash with a preliminary prospectus filing to sell preferred stock warrants, common stock warrants, and a $13.4 million line of credit.
Further Expansion[]
In January 2000, an investor group including Paul Allen, former Sony Pictures executive Jon Feltheimer, German broadcasting company Tele-Munchen, and SBS Broadcasting SA invested $33.1 million. Feltheimer became Lionsgate's new CEO, while Roman Doroniuk left the company. Feltheimer increased filmmaking, including several $1 million films at Avalanche. However, co-founder Avi Federgreen remained one of the primary owners of Lionsgate and is, therefore, deeply involved in all their major movie projects. In June, Lionsgate acquired Trimark Holdings, Inc. for approximately $50 million in stock and cash, including $36 million in debt.
Lionsgate continued to make profitable acquisitions over the decade to boost its distribution and expand its film library. On December 15, 2003, Lionsgate acquired Artisan Entertainment for $220 million. In 2004, Erik Nelson reacquired Termite Art, renaming it Creative Differences. In 2005, Lionsgate partnered with Panamax Films to make movies for the Latino market.
Under the direction of Brad Pelman and Laurie May, two former Lionsgate executives, Lionsgate's Canadian distribution unit was renamed Maple Pictures on April 13, 2005. On August 1, 2005, Lionsgate acquired the entire library of Modern Entertainment, the US film division of the Swedish television company Modern Times Group. On October 17, 2005, Lionsgate acquired the UK company Redbus Film Distribution for $35 million and renamed it Lionsgate UK on February 23, 2006.
On March 15, 2006, Lionsgate sold Lionsgate Studios to the Bosa Development Corporation and purchased Debmar-Mercury, an independent television distributor, on July 12, turning it into another Lionsgate subsidiary. On July 26, 2007, Lionsgate bought a partial stake in independent film distribution company Roadside Attractions. By June 2007, Lionsgate started up Lionsgate Music. On September 10, 2007, the company bought Mandate Pictures for $56.3 million to $44.3 million in cash and $12 million in stock and took on $6.6 million of Mandate's debt. Mandate Chief Executive Joe Drake returned to the company as the co-chief operating officer of its film unit.
In January 2009, Lionsgate purchased TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com from Rovi for $255 million. In May of the same year, Lionsgate sold a 49% stake in TV Guide Network and its website to One Equity Partners under pressure from shareholder Carl Icahn. In February 2009, Lionsgate cut back its distribution of films per year by four. In addition, along with MGM and Paramount Pictures/Viacom, Lionsgate became a co-owner of Epix, a pay-TV movie channel debuting on October 30, 2009.
On September 13, 2010, Lionsgate and Televisa formed a joint venture, Pantelion Films, to produce up to ten films a year for the next five years, targeting the US Latino market. In September 2011, Lionsgate sold its Canadian distribution unit, Maple Pictures, to Alliance Films.
On January 13, 2012, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired Summit Entertainment, producers and distributors of the Twilight Saga, for $412.5 million. The two companies have been planning to merge since 2008. On October 6, 2012, Lions Gate Entertainment announced that Brian Goldsmith, alongside Steve Beeks, became the company's co-COO. On November 18, 2012, Lionsgate passed the $1 billion mark for the first time since its foundation due to the success of The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.
By December 2013, Lionsgate passed the $1 billion mark domestically and internationally for the second year in a row because of the financial success of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Now You See Me, Instructions Not Included, and Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. On April 14, 2014, Comcast acquired the remaining stakes in Fearnet from Lionsgate Films and Sony Pictures Entertainment. On April 21, 2014, Lionsgate announced the merger of its movie marketing operations. A few days later, on April 30, Lionsgate stated that the studios planned to expand into video gaming development.
On February 11, 2015, John C. Malone swapped a 4.5% stake with 14.5% of the voting power in Starz Inc. for 3.4% of Lionsgate's shares while joining the company's board of directors. Fourteen days later, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht hinted at a possible merger with Lionsgate. Then, on April 1, 2015, Lionsgate announced its new label, Lionsgate Premiere. This new label was planned to handle up to 15 movie releases a year, targeting young audiences at theaters and digital outlets. It would incorporate Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment titles, including the Step Up and Red film series, and then specialize in "innovative multiplatform and other release strategies" to reach "affinity audiences with branded content and targeted marketing." Marketing and Research SVP Jean McDowell was responsible for the marketing, with distribution operated by Adam Sorensen. On November 10, 2015, Malone's other company, Liberty Global, invested $195 to 400 million in Lionsgate and acquired a 3.4% stake.
On June 30, 2016, Lionsgate agreed to acquire Starz Inc. for $4.4 billion in cash and stock. As of December 2016, it became the parent company of Starz Inc. On July 13, 2016, Lionsgate acquired a minority stake in Primal Media, a startup company launched by Matt Steiner and Adam Wood, who initially launched Gogglebox Entertainment.
On December 15, 2017, the weekly US financial newspaper Barron's revealed that Malone was selling nearly 108,000 class B shares in Lionsgate for $3.2 million, or $29.63 each, from December 4 to 13.
In January 2018, it was reported that Lionsgate was subject to a bidding war for a possible acquisition, with Comcast and Sony Pictures having made offers. At that time, Lionsgate's vice chairman, Michael Burns, stated in an interview with CNBC that Lionsgate was primarily interested in merging with CBS and Viacom. Viacom and Lionsgate both expressed interest in acquiring The Weinstein Company. On February 27, 2018, a month after the bidding war announcement, Variety reported in a detailed article that toy manufacturing company Hasbro almost acquired Lionsgate. However, the deal ultimately fell through.
In April 2021, Lionsgate's Starz division filed an injunction in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico against The Walt Disney Company over using the Star+ brand in Latin America. The two companies settled in August that same year.
In July 2021, Lionsgate purchased an 18.9% equity stake in Spyglass Media Group and acquired the Weinstein Company's catalog from Spyglass.
Entertainment One Acquisition[]
In July 2023, Deadline reported that Lionsgate was a frontrunner in acquiring Entertainment One from Hasbro. In August 2023, Lionsgate announced it would acquire the motion picture and television assets of Entertainment One for $500 million. Included among the assets are the trademarks of Maple Pictures, which Lionsgate divested to Alliance Films in 2011. The studio is expected to pay $375 million in cash and $125 million in production financing loans related to the purchase. The acquisition was completed on December 27, 2023, and Entertainment One was rebranded as Lionsgate Canada the following year, re-establishing Lionsgate's Canadian roots.
Lionsgate Studios[]
The same month, Lionsgate revealed its plan to split its film and television assets with Starz. The company's studios division will merge with Screaming Eagle Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company led by Eli Baker, to form a separate publicly traded company named Lionsgate Studios. The transaction set a $4.6 billion value on Lionsgate Studios, and the deal was closed on May 7, 2024. The company was launched on May 14, 2024, and has been trading on Nasdaq via the stock symbol LION. Lionsgate will remain the controlling shareholder, owning around 87% of Lionsgate Studios.
Divisions[]
Lionsgate Interactive Ventures and Games[]
Lionsgate Interactive Ventures and Games is Lionsgate's video game development division. It was founded in April 2014 and is headed by Nerdist Industries co-founder Peter Levin. This division produces and distributes multiplatform games based on Lionsgate franchises and invests in digital businesses. One of these franchises was Blair Witch, with Lionsgate Games publishing a Blair Witch game in 2019.
Lionsgate Entertainment World[]
Lionsgate Entertainment World is an indoor interactive experience center based on Lionsgate's blockbuster film franchises, such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Now You See Me. It was opened in Hengqin, Zhuhai, China, in the first half of 2019. The Lionsgate project is an investment by Hong Kong conglomerate Lai Sun Group and was designed and produced by Thinkwell Group.
Celestial Tiger Entertainment[]
In 2008, Lionsgate formed Celestial Tiger Entertainment with Saban Capital Group and Celestial Pictures. Celestial Tiger Entertainment oversees the distribution rights of Lionsgate properties in Greater China and Southeast Asia.
Lionsgate Films[]
Aside from the home media distribution of films sub-licensed from other studios, Lionsgate's library consists of films from the respective companies Lionsgate succeeded in interest, such as Trimark Pictures, Vestron Pictures, and Artisan Entertainment, in addition to their in-house material. Their complete ownership depends on the worldwide regions of license.
Lionsgate Television[]
Lionsgate Television produced several series, such as Nashville, Anger Management, The Dead Zone, Five Days to Midnight, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Boss, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and the Emmy Award-winning Mad Men. Lionsgate also acquired the TV syndication foundation Debmar-Mercury in 2006, with 20th Television handling ad sales except for Meet the Browns. Disney-ABC Domestic Television and Turner Television handled the ad sales. Furthermore, Lionsgate also co-owns the US TV network Pop alongside CBS Corporation. In March 2013, Lionsgate signed with Mars One to produce a reality TV show.
External Links[]
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Behaviour Interactive • IDW Publishing • Konami • Lions Gate Entertainment • Lionsgate Films • Twisted Pictures • Zombie Studios |
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