NEW YORK — Film and TV studio Lions Gate says it is buying Douglas County-based cable channel Starz in a deal worth $4.4 billion.
Lions Gate is the company behind “The Hunger Games” movies and the “Orange Is The New Black” TV series. Starz runs its namesake cable channel, as well as Starz Encore and MoviePlex. Together, Lions Gate says it can tap its library of movies and TV shows and air them through .
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Lions Gate said Thursday that it will pay holders of Starz Series A stock $18 in cash and 0.6784 of a Lions Gate share. Starz Series B stockholders will receive $7.26 in cash and 1.2642 of Lions Gate stock.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Lions Gate is not new to the cable business, owning stakes in the Epix and Pop channels. Starz, besides its channels, also owns Anchor Bay Entertainment, which distributes movies on DVDs.
Shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. fell 38 cents, or 1.8 percent, $20.56 in afternoon trading Thursday. Starz’s Series A stock rose $2.24, or 7.9 percent, to $30.49. Starz Series B Stock rose $3.55, or 12.7 percent, to $31.52.
Speculation was raised during the past year that . Rumors of the latter pushed the enterprise value of Starz to $5 billion from $4 billion.
Billionaire John Malone is the largest individual investor in Starz.
Denver Post Staff Writer Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.
