Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF)

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is a film and television studio known for franchises such as The Hunger Games, Twilight, Saw and John Wick, along with a large library of movies and TV series. The company was founded in Vancouver in 1997 and grew through a series of acquisitions, including Artisan Entertainment in 2003 and Summit Entertainment in 2012. Its operations are based in Santa Monica, California.

For most of its history the company had one class of common shares, which traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LGF and also in Toronto for a time. In December 2016 Lions Gate completed its purchase of the premium cable network Starz. As part of that deal its shares were reclassified into voting Class A shares, trading as LGF.A, and non-voting Class B shares, trading as LGF.B, and the LGF symbol was retired.

Owning Starz turned Lions Gate into a combined studio and subscription network business. Over time management concluded the two parts would be valued better separately. In 2024 it placed the studio business into Lionsgate Studios Corp., which listed on the NYSE as LION after a merger with a SPAC, while Lions Gate kept a large majority stake. The SPAC partner was Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp.

In May 2025 the separation was completed. The studio business became fully independent as Lionsgate Studios, trading as LION, and the remaining parent, which kept the Starz network, was renamed Starz Entertainment Corp. and trades on NASDAQ as STRZ. The two-class LGF.A and LGF.B structure ended with the split. Shareholders received stakes in both companies. Both companies trade as separate public companies.