Lions Gate board recommends shareholders reject latest Icahn takeover bid

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Lions Gate Entertainment’s board on Wednesday recommended that its stock owners reject activist investor Carl Icahn’s current tender offer, which was recently increased to $7.50 a share.

Icahn initially launched his latest offer to buy all the company’s outstanding stock at $6.50 a share in July.

The Lions Gate board has consistently recommended that shareholders reject offers by Icahn, which have ranged in value from $6 to $7 a share. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Lions Gate’s board said the latest offer didn’t reflect the full value of the company and criticized its conditions.

One of those conditions is that Icahn prevail in a pending lawsuit to force the company to rescind a controversial transaction in which it recently issued stock to its second-largest shareholder, Mark Rachesky, in an effort to defend against a takeover.

Icahn’s offer expires Oct. 22, 10 days after a scheduled court hearing in the case.

Lions Gate stock closed Wednesday at $7.14, down less than 1%, before the board announced its recommendation.

The studio is coming off a strong August during which its two movie releases, ‘The Expendables’ and ‘The Last Exorcism,’ were hits and its cable television series ‘Mad Men’ won a third straight Emmy award for best drama.

-- Ben Fritz

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