Icahn Affiliates confirm control over 37.9% of the common shares of Lions
Gate Entertainment Corp.
NEW YORK, July 2 /CNW/ - High River Limited Partnership, Hopper Investments LLC, Barberry Corp., Icahn Offshore LP, Icahn Partners LP, Icahn Onshore LP, Icahn Capital LP, IPH GP LLC, Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P., Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc., Beckton Corp., Icahn Partners Master Fund LP, Icahn Partners Master Fund II LP, Icahn Partners Master Fund III LP and Carl C. Icahn (collectively, the "Icahn Affiliates") announced today that they have filed an early warning report with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities confirming their acquisition (the "Acquisition") of beneficial ownership and control of 4,638,702 common shares (the "Acquired Shares") of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. ("Lions Gate") representing approximately 3.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Lions Gate (based upon the 118,108,487 common shares stated to be outstanding as of May 21, 2010 by Lions Gate in Lions Gate's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, 2010). The Acquired Shares were purchased on the New York Stock Exchange at a price of US$7.00 (Cdn.$7.45 based on the noon rate quoted by the Bank of Canada of US$1.00 = Cdn.$1.0649) per common share.
After giving effect to the acquisition, the Icahn Affiliates may be deemed to beneficially own and control 44,772,451 common shares of Lions Gate (including approximately 130,382 common shares that may be acquired by the Icahn Affiliates upon conversion of the US$1,154,000 in aggregate principal amount of 2.9375% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2024 (the "2024 Notes") and the US$429,000 in aggregate principal amount of 3.625% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2025 (the "2025 Notes") of Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. owned by the Icahn Affiliates) representing in the aggregate approximately 37.9% of the outstanding common shares of Lions Gate (based upon the sum of: (i) 118,108,487 common shares stated to be outstanding as of May 21, 2010 by Lions Gate in Lions Gate's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, 2010 plus (ii) approximately 30,035 common shares issuable upon conversion of the 2025 Notes owned by the Icahn Affiliates).
The indenture governing the 2024 Notes states that such notes are convertible, at the option of the holder, into 86.9565 common shares of Lions Gate per US$1,000 principal amount of 2024 Notes, which is equivalent to a conversion price of approximately US$11.50 per common share, only if certain events specified in the indenture governing such 2024 Notes occur. The indenture governing the 2025 Notes states that such notes are convertible, at the option of the holder, into 70.0133 common shares of Lions Gate per US$1,000 principal amount of 2025 Notes, which is equivalent to a conversion price of approximately US$14.28 per common share, at any time. Although (i) the conversion of the 2024 Notes is subject to the occurrence of events specified in the indenture governing such notes and (ii) the conversion prices of both the 2024 Notes and the 2025 Notes as stated in the applicable indentures are in excess of the current market value of the common shares of Lions Gate, pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) (the "Act"), the Icahn Affiliates may be deemed to beneficially own approximately 130,382 common shares of Lions Gate that may be acquired by the Icahn Affiliates upon conversion of the 2024 Notes and the 2025 Notes held by the Icahn Affiliates.
The Icahn Affiliates acquired the Acquired Shares in order to increase their position in Lions Gate, as the Icahn Affiliates believe that the more shares they own, the more influence they will have to change the make-up of Lions Gate's board of directors and reverse the direction Lions Gate is now taking. The Icahn Affiliates may, from time to time and at any time, subject to applicable securities laws, acquire additional common shares of Lion's Gate and/or its subsidiaries and/or other equity, debt or other securities or instruments (collectively, "Securities") of Lions Gate and/or its subsidiaries in the open market or otherwise and reserve the right to dispose of any or all of their Securities in the open market or otherwise, at any time and from time to time, and to engage in any hedging or similar transactions with respect to the Securities.
Pursuant to its formal take-over bid (the "Formal Bid") to purchase any and all of the outstanding common shares of Lions Gate for US$7.00 in cash, which expired on June 30, 2010, the Icahn Affiliates acquired 18,026,178 common shares of Lions Gate.
The Acquired Shares were acquired through trades effected in the normal course on the New York Stock Exchange in accordance with subsection 93.3(2) of the Act and, when aggregated with acquisitions otherwise made by the Icahn Affiliates within the past 12-month period, other than under the Formal Bid, do not exceed 5 per cent of the outstanding securities of that class, in accordance with section 100 of the Act.
Information regarding Icahn Affiliates' control over common shares of Lions Gate has previously been made available by the Icahn Affiliates via their Schedule 13D filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (publicly available on the EDGAR database).
For further information: Susan Gordon, (212) 702-4309
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