Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is pushing a merger between film studios Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., extended his offer for Lions Gate shares Friday to Nov. 1.
That moves back the closing of his offer until after a competing deal proposal for MGM goes to lenders for a vote on Oct. 29. In that MGM-backed plan, the company would file for bankruptcy, wiping out its debt, and then link up with Spyglass Entertainment Group Inc. under the ownership of those lenders.
Lions Gate has proposed an alternative plan for the studio, offering to merge with MGM,- known for its James Bond films, in a deal that would give Mr. Icahn a stake in a combined company.
Mr. Icahn, who says he has significant stakes in both Lions Gate and MGM, has backed the Lions Gate plan and urged lenders not to vote for MGM's plan with production company Spyglass.
If the Oct. 29 MGM lender vote failed, that would open the door to a possibility of a Lions Gate deal. The lender vote had been set for Oct. 22 – the same date as the previous closing of Mr. Icahn's Lions Gate offer – but was recently moved to Oct. 29.
Mr. Icahn in August raised his bid to $7.50 per share for Lions Gate, the studio behind television hit "Mad Men", after the company rejected an earlier $6.50 per share offer. He already has a more than 30 per cent stake in Lions Gate.