Lions Gate Falls as Comcast Weighs Dropping Its Cable Channels
Lions Gate Falls as Comcast Weighs Dropping Its Cable Channels
(Bloomberg) -- Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. fell to a fresh multiyear low following a report that Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable service, may drop the company’s networks from its main lineup.
Lions Gate, which owns the Starz and Encore channels, slumped as much as 9.2% to $8.63, continuing a long slide in the stock. The shares are trading at their lowest level since January 2012.
Comcast told the TV and film company it may stop carrying the premium channels Starz and Encore on its main bundle of channels, the Information reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Lions Gate acquired Starz in a $4.2 billion deal that closed in late 2016.
Officials from Starz and Comcast declined to comment.
Shares of Lions Gate, based in Santa Monica, California, traded as high as $41 in 2015. The company turned down an informal $5 billion bid for Starz from CBS Corp. earlier this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter, along with an earlier $41-a-share overture from Hasbro Inc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gerry Smith in New York at gsmith233@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III
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