Lions Gate resumes plan to sell most stock held by Carl Icahn

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is going forward with plans to sell most of the stock still held by dissident shareholder Carl Icahn after having put the brakes on that strategy early last week.

The company said that with its stock trading at about $7 all week, it expects to sell 19.2 million of Icahn’s shares by Tuesday, the deadline under its deal with the corporate raider. Lions Gate also has the option to sell an additional 2.9 million of Icahn’s shares, though it’s not yet clear if it will find buyers in time.

If it does not succeed in selling the stock, Icahn will retain a 3.1% stake in Lions Gate, far below the 33% he previously owned.

As part of an agreement Lions Gate and Icahn signed in August to drop litigation against each other, the Santa Monica studio said it would sell about 22 million shares belonging to Icahn on the public market. The studio also bought 11 million of Icahn’s shares itself, as did investor Mark Rachesky, who is now the company’s largest shareholder.

Earlier this month, Lions Gate temporarily put on hold its effort to sell Icahn’s shares on the public market, as its stock fell below $7, the price at which it was obligated to sell under the agreement.

Lions Gate stock closed Thursday at $7.34 , up 3%.

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