New York, February 12, 2015 -- Moody's Investors Service said that Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s ("Lionsgate") announcement that it has entered into a stock exchange agreement with affiliates of Dr. John C. Malone, will not impact its Ba3 Corporate Family rating (CFR), SGL-2 Speculative Grade Liquidity rating or the stable outlook. Lionsgate today announced that it has entered into a stock exchange agreement to exchange shares representing 3.4% of its common stock for a portion of Series A and Series B of Starz's common stock held by Dr. Malone and his affiliates, representing roughly a 4.5% stake in Starz and 14.5% of its voting stock. Further, as part of the exchange agreement, Lionsgate will appoint Dr. John C. Malone to its Board of Directors, upon completion of the exchange. In our view, Dr. Malone's appointment to the company's Board brings to Lionsgate his significant industry prowess and ingenuity, but also creates some event risks, given his financial risk tolerance, financial engineering and history of aggressively using debt to boost equity returns. However, Lionsgate's rating is at similar rating levels as other companies in which Dr. Malone has significant influence or control. Our concerns are also tempered by Starz's modest ownership stake following the exchange and Lionsgate's positive operating momentum, which has allowed the company to strengthen its credit metrics and improve financial flexibility over the last two years. Nevertheless, Dr Malone's presence on Lionsgate's Board does create minor constraints for material future upward rating movement, though the outlook is presently stable.

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