LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lions Gate Entertainment Corp's talks with Carl Icahn, aimed at giving the billionaire investor board representation, have broken down, Icahn said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Those discussions have been terminated because agreement could not be reached concerning certain aspects of the standstill agreement that Lions Gate demanded as a condition to installing those board members," the statement said without giving more details.
Lions Gate was not immediately available for comment.
The studio that produces the popular "Mad Men" cable TV show and "Saw" film franchise had been negotiating to give Icahn a seat or two on its 12-member board to avoid a hostile proxy battle, a Hollywood executive told Reuters last week.
Icahn, who has been amassing Lions Gate shares since 2005 and now owns more than 14 percent of the studio, indicated last month he may call a special shareholder meeting to elect board members, but then the investor and company began talking as a way to prevent that.
Some analysts and investors expect Icahn to now launch a campaign to install his own board that would include his son Brett, and advocate for a sale of certain Lions Gate assets, such as its valuable film library, or even an outright sale of the company.
"There's no doubt in my mind that he is posturing for some kind of strategic transaction to occur and the first step in that process may involve getting board seats," said Richard Dorfman, managing director of investment firm Richard Alan Inc, which owns shares in Lions Gate.
(Reporting by Sue Zeidler; editing by Carol Bishopric)
