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The deal includes a premier multi-year television deal between Lionsgate Television and Spyglass. Library titles acquired by Lionsgate encompass a wide range of critically acclaimed commercial blockbusters, including Fruitvale Station, The King’s Speech, Scream 4, Scary Movie 5, Spy Kids 4, Paddington, Silver Linings Playbook, Lee Daniel’s Butler and, adding to the company’s large and growing portfolio of Quentin Tarantino securities, Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds and The Hateful Eight.
Gary Barber will continue to lead Spyglass as Chief Executive Officer and the Spyglass management team will continue in his current role. The former CEO of MGM formed Spyglass in 2019 with Lantern Entertainment to mix new film and television projects with the former assets of Weinstein Co. The strategic investors included Eagle Pictures, the largest independent distributor in Italy, and the British group Cineworld, owner of Regal Cinemas.
The deal could be seen as the last game of consolidation amid a series of real and rumored deals as the content becomes more and more valuable. With MGM hinted at by Amazon, Lionsgate was seen as an attractive takeover target – big, but not too big to digest. ViacomCBS is also seen as a takeout opportunity for a buyer with generous pockets and smaller players from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Company to LeBron James’ SpringHill Company have received expressions of interest.
The Spyglass deal builds on the strength of the Lionsgate Library after a record year of revenue of $ 780 million from its 17,000 film and television titles. The company has a long history of monetizing library acquisitions over the years, from Artisan to Trimark to Summit. “It fits the Lionsgate mold,” said a Wall Street analyst. “Even if you plan to sell, it’s an ongoing operation. A buyer would be happy with anything he builds. They have a very good track history in the making [library] acquisitions. This is how they built the business.
“This agreement continues to grow our valuable intellectual property portfolio while partnering with Gary Barber, one of the industry’s leading entrepreneurs and content creators,” said Jon Feltheimer, CEO of Lionsgate. “It’s a win / win deal that creates significant added value for both companies while continuing to add to our global content distribution platform at a time when demand for premium content is greater than ever. “
“I am grateful for the continued support of our strategic investors and I am delighted to align with Jon Feltheimer, Michael Burns and all of our Lionsgate partners as we look forward to expanding our relationship by creating quality content and together exploring strategic opportunities in the market, ”said Barber.
“Two years ago, we were thrilled to team up with Gary and have him do what he does best: make Spyglass Media Group a global premium content company and, in no time, increase shareholder value. . Once again, he has successfully overcome these challenges, and we are delighted to continue the journey with him, ”Spyglass strategic investors said in a joint statement from Andy Mitchell, CEO of Lantern Capital; Toby Emmerich, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Tarak Ben Ammar, President, Eagle Pictures; and Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld Group.
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