HONG KONG – Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGF) has joined forces with two partners to create an independent media company focused on pay TV channels, content creation and distribution across Asia.
Lionsgate is a Canadian-American film distributor and television producer that produces such hit television shows as “Mad Men,” “Weeds” and “Nurse Jackie.”
Its partners in the new venture are Celestial Pictures, a global film distributor affiliated with a Malaysian satellite TV service, and Saban Capital Group, which owns the Power Rangers kid-oriented franchise and other entertainment brands.
The three companies announced Wednesday they have created Celestial Tiger Entertainment, which will be exclusive sales agent for all of Lionsgate’s content in southeast Asia and China.
CTE will also license content from Celestial Pictures, which owns the Shaw Brothers film library. Celestical Pictures also a leader in Asian language film and TV production.
Saban and Lionsgate have already been partners through Tiger Gate Entertainment, which has three pay-TV chennels in Asia.
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“We’re delighted to continue our partnership with Saban Capital Group and join with Celestial Pictures in an alliance that reflects the continued growth of our Asian channel business,” said Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer.
“Celestial Tiger Entertainment blends the complementary strengths and skill sets of three companies well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the Asian filmed entertainment and pay TV marketplace and allows us to enrich our pipeline of content and extend our distribution footprint throughout the region.”
Celestial Tiger Entertainment will be headquartered in Hong Kong and will include staff from both Celestial Movies Channels and Tiger Gate. Financial terms of the arrangement weren’t disclosed.
“Our investment in this new partnership with both Celestial Pictures and Lionsgate further supports our commitment to the media and entertainment space in Asia,” said Adam Chesnoff, President and Chief Operating Officer of Saban Capital Group.
Ross Pollack, CEO of Celestial Pictures Limited, said, said the collaboration “will create a powerful collection of unique brands with distinctive programming specifically catering to Asian markets.”
Based in Vancouver and Santa Monica, Calif., Lionsgate agreed in June to sell its Canadian distribution arm, Maple Pictures, for $38.5 million.
It also recently fended off a hostile takeover attempt by prominent activist investor Carl Icahn, who sold his shares to the company and its second-largest shareholder in August after pursuing the company for more than a year.
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