Lionsgate could be a takeover target in 2018 — and that has Wall Street buzzing.
Shares of the studio jumped 6.75 percent to $34.46 on Wednesday, following a Deadline report it has several potential suitors, including Amazon, Verizon, and a combined CBS-Viacom.
Reps for Lionsgate did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The CBS-Viacom-Lionsgate triumvirate would bring popular franchises like “The Hunger Games” and “Orange Is the New Black” to the bolstered network. Last week, TheWrap reported Shari Redstone, CBS and Viacom vice-chairwoman, was pushing to consolidate the two media companies.
At the same time, Amazon’s interest makes sense. The tech kingpin has already had success in Hollywood, with “Transparent” netting Jeffrey Tambor an Emmy, and “Manchester by the Sea” winning two Oscars last year. Beefing up its content slate would give its customers another reason to sign up for Prime — and keep them spending in the Amazon ecosystem.
A merger with Verizon would give the country’s biggest telecom company a wealth of content for distribution. However, the unexpected roadblocks the AT&T-Time Warner deal has run into with the Department of Justice could be an issue here as well. But with Disney closing its $52.4 billion acquisition of several 21st Century Fox properties last month, the industry M&A market could be heating up.
Ouch. Armstrong was the lowest-rated of all the execs. Voters probably haven’t forgotten when he came under fire back in February 2014 for singling out the sick babies of two women at the company for increasing the cost of health benefits.
18. Charlie Vogt, Imagine Communications -- 53.5 /100
The head of the Dallas-based provider of multiscreen video and ad management solutions seems shockingly unpopular.
17. Brian L. Roberts, Comcast -- 56.9 /100
16. Richard L. Plepler, HBO -- 60.5 / 100
15. Peter Hamilton, Tune -- 62.5/100
The Seattle-based mobile platform company was founded in 2009.
14. James C. Smith, Thomson Reuters -- 66.8/100
13. Thomas Dooley, Viacom -- 70.5/100
In November 2016, Bob Bakish was named acting CEO when Dooley stepped down just months after becoming interim chief executive following the ouster of Philippe Dauman.
11. Mike Hopkins, Hulu -- 71.5/100 (tie)
11. Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner -- 71.5/100 (tie)
10. Naveen Tewari, InMobi -- 75.5/100
Tewari co-founded the mobile advertising giant in India in 2007.
9. Tim Westergren, Pandora -- 77.5/100
8. William Lewis, Dow Jones -- 78.5/100
The financial information giant that publishes the Wall Street Journal has been owned by NewsCorp since 2007.
7. Marvin Edwards Jr., CommScope -- 79.5/100
CommScope specializes in communications networks.
6. Reed Hastings, Netflix -- 80.8/100
5. Bob Iger, Disney -- 83.6/100
4. Jared Rowe, YP -- 87.5/100
Last August, the digital media company named former Cox Enterprises exec Jared Rowe to replace David Krantz as CEO.
3. Girish Ramdas, Magzter -- 88.5/100
Ramdas co-founded the digital magazine app in 2011.
2. John Martin, Turner -- 89.5/100
1. Steven R. Swartz, Hearst -- 91.5/100
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AOL boss Tim Armstrong, you’ve got hate mail — according to a study by crowd-sourced business insights firm Owler
