Activist shareholder Carl Icahn has extended the deadline for Lionsgate shareholders to tender their shares to the investor. Icahn has been engaged in a hostile takeover attempt of the company throughout the spring and summer.
Stakeholders now have until Oct. 22 to sell their shares for $6.50. Icahn’s offer was set to expire on August 25 at 5 p.m. PT.
Icahn announced on Wednesday that the deadline had been moved so that the Supreme Court of British Columbia will have time to hear his application for a court injunction to overturn a debt-to-equity swap between the studio and Lionsgate board member Mark Rachesky. That deal was made so the studio could reduce Icahn’s share and prevent him from obtaining a controlling interest in the beleagured company.
The deal reduced Icahn’s stake from 38 percent to 33.5 percent. Last week, Lionsgate’s board rejected the billionaire investor’s latest unsolicited buyout.
Icahn has threatened to fire Lionsgate executive team and force the company into bankruptcy if he takes control. He has criticized Lionsgate's management team for failing to keep costs down and for a series of box office disappointments such as “Killers” and “Kick-Ass.”
