Allen Media Group founder Byron Allen has acquired a 10.7% stake in Starz through a $25 million deal with former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s investment firm.
Per an SEC filing, Mnuchin’s Liberty Funds entered into an agreement on Wednesday to sell all shares owned by them in a private transaction for $25 million, which is expected to close no later than March 13.
On Thursday, Allen Family Capital said it acquired 1,803,786 shares of Starz at a purchase price of $13.86 per share for $25 million. Prior to the deal, Allen did not beneficially own or exercise control over any shares of Starz. The firm acquired the shares for “investment purposes” and may increase or decrease its position depending on Starz’s performance and other market conditions.
Shares of Starz jumped 5.8% on Friday following the announcement.
Allen Family Capital noted that it may make additional purchases on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, including directly with Starz. It could also decide to “hold or dispose of all or part of the investments in the Common Shares or other securities of Starz and/or enter into derivative transactions with institutional counterparties with respect to Starz’s securities, including the Common Shares.”
“Any actions Allen might undertake may be made at any time, and from time to time, without prior notice, and will be dependent upon its review of numerous factors, including but not limited to, an ongoing evaluation of Starz’s business, financial condition, operations and prospects; price levels of Starz’s securities; general market, industry and economic conditions; the relative attractiveness of alternative business and investment opportunities; and other future developments,” the firm said.
Allen Family Capital added that it may engage in communications, without limitation, with one or more shareholders of Starz or the company’s management and board of directors and “may make suggestions or proposals concerning Starz’s operations, prospects, business and financial strategies, strategic transactions, assets and liabilities, business and financing alternatives, the composition of the board of directors and such other matters as Allen may deem relevant to the investment in Starz.”
The move comes after Starz was spun out into a separate company from Lionsgate last year. Mnuchin has amassed a major stake of about 13% in Lionsgate Studios Corp. and would end up joining the company’s board in January.
Starz ended 2025 with a total of 17.6 million subscribers, driven by interest in scripted originals including “Power Book IV: Force” Season 3 and “Spartacus: House of Ashur.” That figure includes 12.7 million streaming subscribers and 5 million pay TV subscribers. Starting next quarter, Starz will no longer disclose their subscriber figures on a quarterly basis.
It also posted $204 million of adjusted EBITDA for 2025, exceeding its $200 million outlook, and ended the fourth quarter with $589 million in net debt and $625 million in gross debt.
Looking ahead at full year 2026, Starz expects OTT revenue growth in 2026, single-digit adjusted operating income growth and $80 million to $120 million in positive free cash flow. It also will stop disclosing subscribers starting with its next quarter and anticipates content spend will come in at around $650 million.
Longer-term, Starz continues to aim for 20% margins coming out of calendar year 2028, converting 70% of adjusted OIBDA into unlevered free cash flow and delevering to 2.5 times as quickly as possible.
Allen’s new stake in Starz also comes after he sold AMG’s local TV stations in ten markets to Gray Media in a $117 million deal in August.
Over the last six years, Allen Media Group has invested over $1 billion in acquiring television stations and has become one of the largest independent, privately held owners of Big 4 network-affiliated stations.
The company hired Moelis in June to explore financial and strategic alternatives, including a potential sale of its 28 owned and operated ABC-NBC-CBS-Fox affiliate television stations in 21 U.S. markets.
At the time, Allen said that the company had received “numerous inquiries and written offers for most of our television stations” and that they’d use any sale proceeds to significantly reduce the company’s debt load of around $1.5 billion. An individual familiar with the matter previously told TheWrap that Allen Media Group’s portfolio of TV stations make up about 35% to 40% of its revenue.
In addition to the stations, AMG has 10 24-hour HD cable television networks serving nearly 300 million subscribers, broadcast syndication, HBCU GO Sports, five digital streaming platforms and the free-streaming AVOD service, Local Now.
