Washington DC-based private equity firm Liberty Strategic Capital has acquired a 5.5% stake in Lionsgate, the US studio group behind hits like Mad Men and Nurse Jackie and owner of cablenet Starz.
The private equity firm, launched in 2021 and focused on investments in technology, financial services, fintech and new forms of content, is led by Steven Mnuchin, the former Secretary of the US Treasury under former American president Donald Trump.
The Class A shares acquired by Liberty Strategic Capital (which has no affiliation to John Malone’s Liberty Global) are worth around US$30.8m.
Lionsgate disclosed the investment in a securities filing yestserday. While the specific reason for the investment was not disclosed, the filing mentions the planned separation of Lionsgate and Starz as an area of potential interest.
The filing said Liberty Strategic Capital may “engage” with stakeholders, management or Lionsgate’s board of directors to make suggestions or proposals about various matters “including a potential investment by [Liberty Strategic Global] in a spin-off of [Lionsgate’s] studio business or other restructuring, assets and liabilities, business and financing alternatives, the composition of the board of directors and such other matters.”
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Last month, Lionsgate once again delayed the proposed split, which, if completed, would see Lionsgate’s film and TV studio spun off into a separate company, while the media networks business (which primarily comprises Starz’s pay TV and streaming operations) remains within the existing firm. The move to split the companies comes seven years after Lionsgate acquired Starz for around US$4.4bn.
Lionsgate cited Hollywood’s dual strikes and the recent acquisition of Entertainment One, which is expected to close before the end of the year, as the reasons for once again delaying the split.
Before joining the Trump administration in 2017, Mnuchin was a major film investor involved in slate financing deals with the likes of Warner Bros and Fox. His executive producer film credits include Wonder Woman, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Mad Max: Fury Road, Edge of Tomorrow and The Conjuring 2.
A Lionsgate representative declined to comment on the investment.
Source: C21 Media
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