Byron Allen Sells His Entire 10.7% Stake in Starz for About $44.9 Million, Booking a Roughly $20 Million Gain in Seven Months
Media mogul Byron Allen has sold his entire stake in Starz, according to a disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 29 and reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Allen sold the shares in tranches between August 7 and September 29, realizing a bit less than $45 million.
In March, Allen Family Capital bought about 1.8 million Starz shares — a 10.7 percent stake — from former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty 77 fund for $25 million, or $13.86 a share, making Allen the company's second-largest shareholder.
At the time, Allen told The Hollywood Reporter: "When I decide to buy the whole company — I will buy the whole company — I do plan on controlling Starz." Starz's board responded by adopting a shareholder rights plan, a so-called poison pill, that would dilute any holder reaching 17.5 percent ownership.
The exit ends Allen's pursuit of control of Starz, with a profit of roughly $20 million in about seven months. Allen founded Allen Media Group, owner of the Weather Channel and a group of local TV stations, and this year took a controlling stake in BuzzFeed. Starz was spun off from Lionsgate last year.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Starz现行标识（2022年起使用）。Starz Entertainment Corp.设计，公共领域，经Wikimedia Commons。 / The current Starz logo, in use since 2022. Designed by Starz Entertainment Corp., public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
