Byron Allen Sells His Entire Stake in Starz

Byron Allen has sold his entire stake in Starz Entertainment, the company behind the Starz streaming service. A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosed the sale on Thursday, 29 October. The shares were sold in batches between 9 August and 29 September.

Deadline reported that the sales were made by Allen Family Capital, the investment arm of Allen, which is based in Beverly Hills. The shares sold for between about $21 and $26 each. Allen took in just under $45 million from the sales.

Allen's stake was not old. In March, Allen Family Capital bought 1,803,786 Starz common shares on 5 March, giving him a 10.7% holding. The shares came from the investment firm of former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in a private deal. At the time, Bloomberg reported that Allen aimed to sell shows to Starz.

Starz adopted a poison pill after Allen bought his stake. A poison pill is a company defence that makes it costly for any one investor to build a large holding without the board's agreement. Starz did not say what prompted the move beyond Allen's purchase.

Allen is the founder and chief executive of Allen Media Group. Jeff Hirsch is chief executive of Starz. Allen's other recent deal in the media business was a purchase of 40 million shares of BuzzFeed at $3 each, which Variety reported closed in May.

With the sales, Allen no longer holds any Starz shares. The filing and the reports on it do not describe any new deal between Allen and Starz.