CBS Floated Offer of About $5 Billion for Pay-TV Channel Starz
May 17 2019 - 5:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
CBS Corp. has had talks with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
about acquiring its pay-TV channel Starz, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The talks between the two companies started in recent weeks and
a price of about $5 billion was floated by CBS, one of the people
close to the situation said. The CBS board of directors also gave a
green light to the company to pursue the acquisition, another
person said.
No formal offer has been made by CBS and nothing is imminent,
another person with knowledge of the matter said. People close to
Lions Gate said the film and movie production company is seeking a
higher price than what CBS initially suggested.
The Information earlier reported on the talks about a potential
Starz sale to CBS. Lions Gate's stock rose 15% on Friday following
the report.
CBS, which already owns the pay-TV channel Showtime, came close
to acquiring Starz in 2016 but lost a bidding war to Lions Gate,
which bought the company for $4.4 billion. The CBS bid was lower in
part because it had concerns at the time about the ability of Starz
to complete a new distribution deal with AT&T Inc.'s satellite
broadcaster, DirecTV.
The discussions with Lions Gate come at the same time CBS and
its sister company, Viacom Inc., are again expected to consider a
merger. Both companies are controlled by National Amusements Inc.,
whose president, Shari Redstone, has been eager to see a deal.
CBS and Viacom have twice in recent years tried to recombine but
have been unable to come to terms on a deal.
For Lions Gate, a sale of Starz would be an admission that the
acquisition wasn't the game-changing deal it had anticipated.
The Lions Gate-Starz marriage was troubled from the start.
Longtime Starz Chief Executive Chris Albrecht departed earlier this
year after clashes with Lions Gate leadership over strategy. Starz
under Mr. Albrecht was reluctant to buy shows from Lions Gate,
preferring instead to make its own or acquire some from other
suppliers.
A Starz sale would give Lions Gate a much-needed cash infusion
at a time its movie and television units have struggled.
If CBS does acquire Starz, the deal could face scrutiny from
lawmakers. While AT&T's HBO is the dominant pay-TV channel, a
Starz-Showtime tie-up would give CBS ownership of two of the three
major premium channels.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 17, 2019 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
CBS (NYSE:CBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
CBS (NYSE:CBS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024