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    SEC fines Lions Gate $7.5M related to Icahn spat

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1184 Views
    WASHINGTON (AP) --

    The Securities and Exchange Commission levied a $7.5 million fine against movie studio Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. for failing to properly disclose its role in a complex debt-equity swap that helped it fend off a hostile takeover bid from Carl Icahn in 2010.

    The SEC said Thursday that Lions Gate had agreed to pay the fine and admitted wrongdoing.

    A Lions Gate spokesman declined to comment.

    The company had already accounted for the cost of the fine in its earnings report for its third quarter, which ended in December.

    The commission said that the company orchestrated the move to put about 9 percent of company shares in the hands of Mark Rachesky, a director friendly to management. The agency said such a large sale of stock would have required the approval of other shareholders according to New York Stock Exchange rules.

    The move followed a bid by Icahn in July 2010 to take over the company for $6.50 per share.

    Following a midnight board meeting, the company swapped $100 million in convertible bonds owned by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. for similar bonds with a later maturity. Kornitzer then sold the bonds to Rachesky, Icahn's former chief investment adviser, for $105.7 million. Rachesky immediately converted them into common shares at $6.20 apiece, boosting his stake to 28.9 percent, compared to less than 20 percent before the swap. Icahn's stake fell from 37.9 percent to about 33 percent because the new issuance of converted shares boosted the overall share count.

    Lions Gate portrayed the move in a news release at the time as a way for it to reduce debt. It did not say it was part of a takeover defense.

    Icahn contested the move in various venues, including the Canadian province of British Columbia, where Lions Gate's Canadian headquarters is based, but he failed to have the transaction annulled. Icahn later sold off his stake in Lions Gate and abandoned his takeover attempt.

    Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said the investigation was continuing but didn't elaborate.

    Lions Gate shares fell $1.06, or 3.2 percent, to $32.20 Thursday. They are up 39 percent over the past year.

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    Actor Anthony Head, known for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,” dies at 72

    Friday, June 5, 2026
    Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File)

    Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ted Lasso," has died, his family said Friday. He was 72.

    Head's daughters, actors Emily and Daisy Head, told the Press Association news agency that the actor passed away due to complications from pneumonia.

    The stage and TV performer became well known to British audiences in the 1980s as one half of a will-they, won't-they romantic couple in a series of ads for Nescafe Gold Blend instant coffee. The ads were later re-shot for a U.S. audience for Taster's Choice.

    Head achieved wider fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentor to the title character in the cult-favorite supernatural series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ran from 1997 to 2003.

    He most recently played Rupert Mannion, the villainous ex-husband of Hannah Waddingham's character Rebecca, in "Ted Lasso."

    "Our grief is far greater than the hole he has left behind, but we know his legacy will live on, in the shows he was a part of, and in the audiences that love them," his daughters said. "How lucky we are to know we are able to watch him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us."

    Head was born in London on Feb. 20, 1954 to Seafield Head, a documentary filmmaker, and Helen Shingler, an actor. His older brother, Murray, is also an actor.

    Other notable roles included playing Geoffrey Howe, the deputy to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep, in the Oscar-winning "The Iron Lady."

    Head portrayed a prime minister himself in the sketch comedy show "Little Britain," as well as King Uther Pendragon, the father of Prince Arthur, in the "Merlin" TV series. He also appeared in "Motherland," Manchild," and "Silent Witness," along... Read More

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