A Hollywood TV and film studio has initiated acquisition talks in an effort to bring the pay-cable channel Starz under its umbrella. Variety reports that Lionsgate made a “formal overture” to Starz, with investor John Malone bringing the two companies together.
“Starz said in a regulatory filing Thursday that Lionsgate has advised that it ‘intends to explore whether there is a potential mutually beneficial combination of the two companies,'” the story reports.
Variety adds: ”The filing acknowledges what the industry has been expecting since Malone connected the two companies in February 2015 by swapping a 4.5% stake in Starz from his personal holdings in the pay TV group for a 3.4% stake in Lionsgate and a seat on the company’s board. That move was widely seen as Malone engineering a future marriage of the companies.”
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