European media giants eye takeover of Lionsgate Studios

Lionsgate Studios, the entertainment company whose library spans the “Hunger Games” and “John Wick” franchises, has attracted acquisition interest from European media powerhouses Banijay and Mediawan.

The Banijay interest was first reported by Reuters. Bollore, the French conglomerate that holds a controlling stake in pay-TV operator Canal+, is not bidding, Variety has learned.

The studio, which carries a market value of some $3.8 billion, has engaged an investment bank to assess inbound approaches, the sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. No deal is guaranteed, and Lionsgate could ultimately choose to remain independent.

Banijay, the company behind hit franchises “Big Brother” and “Survivor,” is weighing a bid, though any formal approach from that quarter may be delayed while the company works through its integration of All3Media, which it merged with earlier this year.

Lionsgate’s catalog is a significant draw. Beyond the “Hunger Games” and “John Wick” series, the studio owns the “Twilight Saga” franchise and distributed the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” which took in more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Lionsgate would add scripted film/TV IP and a real studio/library to Banijay’s mostly unscripted-format business.

Mediawan has been building their presence across English language markets – through Plan B, See-Saw Films, and most recently their acquisition of North Road. Buying a legacy Hollywood studio like Lionsgate would be a natural next step in that build-out, giving Mediawan access to mainstream theatrical franchises (“John Wick,” “Hunger Games,” “Twilight”) and library scale, layered onto the U.S. production base and network it just gained through Chernin — whose group just produced the smash horror hit “Backrooms,” which became A24’s highest-grossing release to date with over $368 million at the worldwide box office.

Pricing, however, has complicated matters. Lionsgate shares currently trade at roughly 26 times expected pretax profit, a premium to comparable studios, according to data from LSEG quoted by Reuters. Two sources told Reuters that earlier potential suitors walked away because of the valuation gap between what buyers were willing to pay and what shareholders expect.

A separate corporate development adds texture to the picture: director and shareholder Mark Rachesky this month moved his roughly 10% stake – held via his private equity vehicle – into a newly created fund backed by RenWave Kore, per Reuters. That firm was established in 2024 by Cody Kittle, who previously worked as a portfolio manager at Elliott Investment Management, the activist investor, and is itself backed by Sequoia Heritage.

Lionsgate and Banijay declined to comment to Reuters. Mediawan declined to comment when Variety reached out.

-Variety