Lions Gate Closes Accretive, Strategic Acquisition, Reflecting Company's Continuing Strategy of Building Library Core Asset
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE:LGF) Toronto, the premier independent filmed entertainment producer and distributor, today announced that it has closed its asset purchase agreement to acquire substantially all of the Modern Entertainment, Ltd. library, effective today, August 17, 2005. The acquisition has been previously announced.
The acquisition includes the rights held by Modern to leading titles from Vestron, Dino DeLaurentiis and other libraries within the Modern Entertainment family, including CONAN THE BARBARIAN, HALLOWEEN II and III, RAGTIME, DEAD ZONE, AND GOD CREATED WOMAN, AMITYVILLE II, EIGHT MILLION WAYS TO DIE, HERCULES IN NEW YORK and EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY.
"This is an accretive, strategic acquisition that meets all of our transactional criteria and reflects our commitment to continue growing our library base as a source of stable, reliable cash flow," said Lions Gate Entertainment President Steve Beeks. "The Modern Entertainment library contains a broad range of quality content and brings valuable long-term VOD and TV rights that are consistent with our ongoing strategy of transitioning our core asset into a library of the future."
Beeks pointed out that many of the titles acquired have been purchased by Modern in perpetuity, more than 95% include television rights and a majority of the titles include VOD rights, further positioning Lions Gate's library to exploit future technologies.
Lions Gate also noted that the acquisition unites all rights to the Vestron titles under one roof, including all rights to one of Lions Gate's major franchises, DIRTY DANCING. Lions Gate has shipped an average of over one million DVD units of DIRTY DANCING annually over the past five years, released a new theatrical film last year, is considering a reality television series, has a new musical stage play touring Australia, Japan and Europe and is planning a 20th anniversary theatrical and DVD rerelease of the original film in early 2007.
The deal was negotiated for Lions Gate by Beeks, Jim Gladstone, SVP Legal, and Jon Ferro, EVP Television.
Lions Gate is the premier independent producer and distributor of motion picture, television, home entertainment, family entertainment and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library is a valuable source of reliable and recurring revenue and is a foundation for the continued growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lions Gate brand name is synonymous with original, daring, quality product in markets around the globe.