Lions Gate Entertainment Rejects Carl Icahn offer
Carl Icahn's bid to buy the movie studio Lions Gate Entertainment was rejected by its board of directors as the offer was termed to be too low.
Icahn has sought to forestall a bid to acquire storied rival Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This move was the latest in a long standing ownership battle.
Time Warner Inc, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp and billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries had stalked up bids up to $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion for MGM. However, Lions Gate's board was advised by their shareholders to reject Icahn's offer.
"We believe that nothing has changed -- the offer remains financially inadequate and still does not reflect the full value of Lionsgate shares," Lions Gate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer said.
Meanwhile, the board has also arranged a meeting with its shareholders to discuss the issue on May 4th. They are also going to assimilate shares so as to ward off attempts for any proposal regarding defensive rights plan.
On the other hand, Lions Gate shares increased by 3 cents to $5.85 in early trading of the New York Stock Exchange.
