TechCrunch : OpenAI’s first hardware device is reportedly a screenless speaker t

OpenAI’s first hardware device is reportedly a screenless speaker that can move

OpenAI’s first foray into hardware devices is reported to be a mobile smart speaker with integrated AI capabilities that can sync with ChatGPT and provide other home AI services.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the device — which is still currently under development — is designed to be screen-free and is being pitched internally as a “humanlike AI companion that lives in the home.”

OpenAI has long claimed that it wants to launch a hardware product — with some rumors being that it wants to launch its own phone, a move that would put it in competition with Apple.

OpenAI’s newly surfaced device sounds like something of a departure from traditional smart speakers — as sources described the device to Bloomberg as having a “personality” and being able to proactively learn about its owner over time, providing more personalized service. The machine would have access to a user’s digital life, drawing off things like emails, sources said.

The device is also weirdly described as involving “mechanical elements that can move on their own” and the Bloomberg report includes the detail that the device is designed to “feel like a companion and become a physical manifestation of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.”

The device was developed with help from many former Apple engineers who were instrumental in “creating products such as the iPhone and Mac,” Bloomberg writes. Indeed, OpenAI may be attempting to launch a new hardware line, but the company is currently up to its eyeballs in trouble over hardware-related legal problems.

Apple last week sued OpenAI, accusing the AI company of stealing its trade secrets. Apple further claimed that the allegations involved in the suit are merely “the tip of the iceberg” and that more misconduct will be revealed during the legal discovery process. OpenAI has denied wrongdoing.

Citing anonymous sources with knowledge of OpenAI’s plans, Bloomberg writes that the company feels its new product “veers significantly from anything Apple has on the market today” and that it is “unlikely that it violates trade secrets” belonging to Apple.

OpenAI’s push comes as the tech world grows more excited about consumer AI hardware more broadly. Hark, an AI lab founded by Brett Adcock, raised an oversubscribed $700 million Series A back in May at a $6 billion valuation to build what it calls “personal intelligence” — proprietary AI models paired with custom hardware designed as a “universal interface between humans and machines.”

The company hasn’t yet detailed its device’s form factor, underscoring how much capital is chasing this category even before products ship.

WSJ: Health Officials Zero In on Lettuce in Explosive-Diarrhea Outbreak Probe He

Health Officials Zero In on Lettuce in Explosive-Diarrhea Outbreak Probe
Health department in Michigan, where there are thousands of cases, points to prewashed salad kits as a possible culprit

  • Michigan health officials identified bagged, prewashed salad kits as a possible culprit in a rapidly expanding cyclospora outbreak.
  • Michigan is the hardest-hit state, with more than 3,300 cases of the parasite reported as of Tuesday.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 34 states have documented cases of cyclosporiasis, with more than 140 hospitalizations.

Michigan state health officials are narrowing in on lettuce as a possible culprit in the rapidly expanding explosive-diarrhea outbreak.

Top health officials in Michigan said bagged, prewashed salad kits could be a particular risk, based on the state’s review of cases. “The early signals are telling us that lettuce does seem to be implicated,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive.

Donald Prater, the Food and Drug Administration’s acting deputy commissioner for food, said lettuce is one of multiple produce items under investigation as officials race to identify the outbreak’s origins.

Michigan is the hardest hit by the cyclospora parasite with more than 3,300 cases as of Tuesday, more than double the number on Friday.

So far, 34 states have reported cases of cyclosporiasis, a foodborne-illness that can cause explosive diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said there are more than 5,100 possible cases under investigation. More than 140 people have been hospitalized, the CDC said Tuesday.

Suzi Pasquinzo, a 47-year-old Michigan mom of four, said she developed terrible diarrhea and cramping last Friday, days after eating a soft Taco Supreme with lettuce and tomato and a crunchy taco with beef, cheese and lettuce from Taco Bell.

Pasquinzo has been taking antibiotics, which has eased the diarrhea, but she still had stomach cramping Monday and has been weak, missing two days of work at a new job and her niece’s graduation party. She said she has started feeling better Tuesday and has tolerated eating a potato and some soup, but is debating whether to cancel long-held plans to go away this weekend for a concert.

“It takes a lot to recover from that much diarrhea,” she said.

Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure, but said public health officials haven’t confirmed a link to the chain’s food or any specific ingredient, supplier or retailer.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and follow the guidance of public health authorities,” Taco Bell said.

Lettuce is a tricky ingredient to track in an outbreak because the same supplier can serve restaurants and supermarkets. Suppliers often handle lettuce from various farms, making it hard to pinpoint a single source.

Michigan’s health department said its early findings weren’t conclusive and that its investigation into the outbreak was continuing.

It can take up to two weeks for cyclosporiasis symptoms to develop, so health departments have been asking people who get sick to document what they ate over a two-week period to find commonalities.

Michigan’s health department is pulling staff off other projects to assist the cyclospora outbreak response, Bagdasarian said. Over the last year and a half, funding cuts at the federal level trickled down to the state health department, she said, resulting in layoffs and lost funding for well-established programs.

“Public health is doing far more than ever before with far fewer resources in 2026,” Bagdasarian said.

The CDC stopped routinely reporting data for cyclospora and several other pathogens last July under a federal-state partnership known as FoodNet. Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases said the shift didn’t impact national surveillance, and that the program is instead designed to look at trends over time to inform policy and prevention activities.

There are 10 participating FoodNet sites, including eight states and certain counties in California and New York, and it doesn’t include some of the hardest-hit states such as Michigan.

FT : Chipmaker CXMT seeks $10bn in largest China IPO since 2010

Chipmaker CXMT seeks $10bn in largest China IPO since 2010
Chinese group capitalises on boom in demand for AI memory chips

CXMT is seeking to raise nearly $10bn in mainland China’s largest initial public offering since 2010 as the Chinese chipmaker capitalises on a boom in demand for AI memory chips.

The company hopes to bring in Rmb66.6bn ($9.8bn) in a listing that would value the company at Rmb579.2bn, according to a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The IPO marks the biggest in mainland China since the Agricultural Bank of China’s listing in 2010. It comes shortly after SK Hynix’s blockbuster US listing raised more than $26bn.

Shihao Li, a mainland China equities strategist at Citic CLSA, said the IPO could cause a “short-term liquidity drain”, particularly for other shares listed on Shanghai’s tech-focused Star Market.

CXMT is raising money to expand production as well as research and development of DRam chips, which store short-term memory in computers. High demand for DRam chips from AI companies has created a supply squeeze, especially for consumer electronics makers.

The FT reported last month that Apple was lobbying the US for clearance to buy memory chips from CXMT, which the Pentagon has blacklisted because of alleged connections to the People’s Liberation Army.

YMTC, another Chinese chipmaker with plans to list, makes Nand chips, used for longer-term memory storage, amid surging demand from providers of AI agents and chatbots.

The listing plans are the latest sign of a revival for Chinese capital markets after a years-long slump in new offerings.

Mainland Chinese IPOs have raised Rmb198bn this year, more than 2025’s total and the largest amount since 2023.

CXMT will issue 6.6mn shares priced at Rmb8.66, with an overallotment option of 1mn shares.

The chipmaker reported a net profit of Rmb33bn in the first quarter this year, according to its IPO prospectus, a record driven by rising memory chip prices.

CXMT’s price-to-earnings ratio based on its 2025 earnings would be more than 300 times before exercise of the overallotment option.

The listing date has not been fixed, but investor subscriptions will take place on Thursday.

FT : Paramount and Disney are chasing a pre-stream pipe dream Studios built stre

Paramount and Disney are chasing a pre-stream pipe dream
Studios built streaming platforms believing it would create a tight bond with viewers

Once upon a time, media companies like Paramount and Walt Disney lived a peaceful existence, producing content and licensing it to the highest bidder. But the fairy tale ended when big studios started to engage in costly streaming land grabs against Netflix, creating a glut of video distribution services. Now, both are trying to recapture better times.

Paramount Skydance is attempting to solve the streaming wars through its $110bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery. The process isn’t without hiccups: 12 US states, led by California, are suing in federal court to block the deal, alleging that it will result in excessive concentration in both movie production and distribution of content.

Not true, says Paramount. The company run by Donald Trump ally David Ellison says that the merger will, thanks to cost savings that would increase its total ebitda from $12bn a year to $18bn, leave it better positioned to invest in a fortified slate of film releases and TV shows. Thus it will become a better foil to the likes of Netflix and YouTube.

But what if the right answer for investors isn’t to get bigger in order to win the streaming wars, but to quit that costly fight altogether? A report from Wells Fargo published on Monday claims Disney could add 40 per cent to its market capitalisation by ditching its Disney+ direct-to-consumer service and instead stick to making and selling on video content.

It’s possible that the perks of owning both content and distribution have been exaggerated. Studios built streaming platforms believing it would create a tight bond with viewers. But even the mighty Netflix, which pioneered the model, is now suffering: its shares have fallen a fifth this year. Even hundreds of billions of dollars in investment don’t guarantee a monopoly on long-term customer loyalty.


Disney’s digital service has never come close to matching the favourable economics of its studios; Wells Fargo points out that after years of losses its expected operating margin of 13 per cent is less than half what Disney’s legacy studio made in the pre-streaming era. Before the House of Mouse started investing heavily in Disney+, its market capitalisation was 15 times expected earnings, or 15 per cent higher than its valuation now.

Paramount often pegs its own steady decline, which started 15 years ago, to a strategy of reselling too much of its back catalogue to a nascent Netflix for easy money. Yet the response has been to spend mounting sums, both on streaming platforms and now on a premium-priced acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. Netflix may be the fairytale villain, but the companies it displaced are their own worst enemies.

FT : Helsing’s ‘crazy’ valuation raises defence tech bubble concerns German star

Helsing’s ‘crazy’ valuation raises defence tech bubble concerns
German start-up’s fundraise gave it a higher revenue multiple than many US and European peers

Helsing’s latest landmark $1.8bn fundraising commanded a significantly higher valuation multiple than many of its US and European defence technology peers, roadshow documents seen by the FT show.

Based on forecast revenues of €441mn ($502mn) for 2026, the German start-up’s funding round valued the company at a multiple of 32 times revenue before the inclusion of capital raised this week. Its post-raise valuation of $18bn confirmed its status as one of Europe’s most valuable start-ups.

The revenue multiple is far higher than that of US defence tech start-ups such as Anduril, whose recent fundraising gave it a “pre-money” valuation of 13 times forward revenue, and Shield AI, whose $12.7bn valuation was done at 21 times.

European rivals such as Quantum Systems, another German AI-powered drone maker, have also attracted a lower valuation. Quantum’s $1.2bn funding round reflected a multiple of 8.5 times its forecast revenues of €700mn for 2026.

Johannes von Borries, a managing partner in German venture capital group UVC Partners, which has invested in defence companies but not in Helsing or its rivals, said $18bn looked “a very high valuation”.

“If you’re buying in at that level that means you are betting that the company is going to grow to multiple times that size. I am not convinced it can do that based solely on military technology. I’m not sure that European defence spending will continue to be high enough,” he added. 

Helsing declined to comment on the revenue numbers seen by the FT. It said this week that investor demand “significantly” exceeded the equity offered.

However, the headline valuation has raised concerns among some competitors and investors at a time when the sector was gripped by a “raise race”, according to one sceptical executive from an established defence group.

“Quantum, Stark, Helsing . . . all are raising money like crazy — because it is there at the moment,” he said. “This feels somehow close to the dotcom bubble.”

Khaled Helioui, a partner at Plural, an early-stage investment fund and a backer of Helsing, told the FT that given Helsing’s rapid revenue growth, it was “more reasonable” to base its valuation on expected 2027 revenues of €753mn, giving the company a multiple of around 19 times.

Other industry experts said revenues were only one metric among several that influenced a company’s valuation, including profit margins.

Helsing chief financial officer Anita Szarek, who joined the company in May and was involved in the recent round, said it was important to understand that the company’s peers were not companies producing military drones or other weapons, but rather “high-growth, high-tech businesses” in the US. 

She said AI-driven and software-defined technology was at the core of the company’s offering and, as such, Helsing’s “peers are US tech and defence tech companies like Palantir and Anduril”.

Founded in 2021, Helsing initially focused on producing AI software to analyse battlefield data. The company later branched into attack drones as well as autonomous underwater vessels and larger aircraft. 

In February, it won a contract to supply its HX-2 lethal drone to the German armed forces, worth an initial €268mn but with the potential to be extended to as much as €1.46bn. German lawmakers this month approved a €223mn deal for it to build a combat cloud for the German air force.

Helsing has secured several prominent backers over the years, including Spotify founder Daniel Ek, General Catalyst and Sweden’s Saab. Before this latest round, the company was valued at €12bn in a round led by Ek.

The latest round was led by US investment group Dragoneer, which has backed companies including Uber and OpenAI. It also drew investment from the growth equity arm of Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

Helsing’s Szarek said the company had already secured the key contracts relevant for revenue in-year, and “most of the revenue 2027 is in the order book or in follow-on contracts”. Most of Helsing’s orders have so far come from the German government although the company stressed that not all were in the public domain. 

Szarek said that prospective investors had asked “very thorough questions”. It was important to put valuations into context, she added, with defence tech being one of Europe’s fastest-growing sectors.

The company, she said, was aiming to become the leading European “neo-prime” — challenging or even overtaking established defence contractors such as Rheinmetall and BAE Systems.

Plural’s Helioui said the fund had done its own “extensive independent due diligence on the company” before investing this time, speaking to the military and competitors to cross-check the facts.

“On autonomy and drone warfare, we believe that Helsing has such a scale and velocity advantage versus all of the competitors that they are uniquely positioned. So that’s our bet. That they are going to be the defining player.”

Von Borries said that, if Helsing really could widen its focus and grow to become a European equivalent of the American tech giants, then an $18bn valuation might end up being far too modest. 

“We see the vast growth of AI companies in the US. If Helsing can diversify and branch into dual-use applications in future, then maybe the valuation actually underestimates its potential.”

FT : Daniel Ek’s body-scanning start-up raises $700mn for US push Funding round

Daniel Ek’s body-scanning start-up raises $700mn for US push
Funding round sees Neko Health’s valuation jump fourfold to almost $7bn for Spotify founder

Mark Zuckerberg, Ari Emanuel and Maria Sharapova are among those investing $700mn into Daniel Ek’s body-scanning start-up Neko Health, as the Spotify founder prepares for rapid expansion across the US.

The funding round, which is led by Neko’s existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners and OG Venture Partners, values the eight-year-old Swedish company at almost $7bn, according to people familiar with the deal. That price tag marks a fourfold increase from $1.7bn in January 2025.

More than 100,000 people in the UK and Sweden have now taken one of Neko’s £299 preventive health checks, which use custom-built medical equipment to offer a full-body skin scan, blood analysis and in-person consultation.

Ek told the FT that the funding would accelerate a “very aggressive rollout plan of new clinics in both UK and the US” after receiving FDA approval for several of its products ahead of a planned launch in New York later this year.

“It’s really a lot of strength on the business side, the demand side and the product side that has led to this position,” Ek said, noting that all its clinics that are more than six months old are now profitable on a gross margin basis.

“Eighteen months ago [when it last raised funding] it was very promising but maybe didn’t have as many proof points. I think the proof points are here this time,” he added.

Bejul Somaia, global partner at Lightspeed, said the investment reflected his “higher conviction” that Neko has a “clear path to global scale”.

“The execution of the company has been very strong,” he said. “What we are betting on is the consumerisation of healthcare and people beginning to get more proactive in their health.”

Other high-profile names joining the round are footballer Thierry Henry, filmmaker Sir Matthew Vaughn and supermodel Claudia Schiffer, as well as Jimmy Iovine, the music industry executive who co-founded Beats, the headphones and music app developer that became Spotify’s biggest rival after its $3bn acquisition by Apple.

Ek co-founded Neko in Sweden in 2018 alongside entrepreneur Hjalmar Nilsonne, its chief executive. It spent several years developing its own medical imaging devices and sensors before launching its first clinic in Stockholm in 2023.

It recently added body composition scanning to measure metabolic risk, and a mobile app that allows customers to send data from health-tracking wearable devices such as Apple Watch, Oura ring or Whoop wristband ahead of their Neko consultation.

Despite opening several new facilities in the UK and Sweden that have helped increase its overall capacity fivefold in the last year, the company is still trying to work through a waiting list of hundreds of thousands of prospective customers.

Preparing to open its first clinics in the US has already taken Neko more than 18 months, echoing Spotify’s long path to winning record labels’ approval to launch there in 2011.

Ek, who stepped down as Spotify’s chief executive in January, said that he is using the music service’s playbook for international expansion, going from the relatively small market of Sweden to the UK before taking on the world’s largest healthcare market.

“Going from Sweden to the UK was probably 10 times the complexity,” Ek said of Neko’s growth. “Now we’re taking on another 10x which is the US, so it is a massive undertaking by the company.”

Neko’s funding comes as it races a growing number of well-funded rivals, as celebrities, athletes and social media influencers tout the benefits of preventive health scans.

Competitors include Texas-based Function Health, which last year acquired body scanning start-up Ezra and raised $298mn at a $2.5bn valuation from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Redpoint, as well as Zac Efron, Matt Damon and Magic Johnson.

Another rival, California-based Prenuvo, whose $2,500 MRI scan has received endorsements from Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, raised $120mn in 2024 and has recently expanded from North America to the UK and Australia.

Ek and Nilsonne said that Neko had originally planned to raise its next funding after launching in the US but its existing investors Lightspeed and OG pre-empted that round. That allowed Neko to focus its attention on bringing in more individual investors, including the tech moguls and sports stars that joined this round.

Businesses that have physical assets have become increasingly popular among tech investors, as the value of their software portfolios has been shaken by advances in AI.

Somaia said the Neko investment fits a thesis at Lightspeed, which is also an investor in Anthropic and SpaceX, to back companies “that sit at the intersection of AI and the physical world”, making them more resilient to competition.

Nilsonne said: “What people are recognising is that the organisations that are exceptional at combining AI and hardware are doing truly exceptional things . . . and Neko is maybe the only company that is doing that in healthcare”.

FT : China reports lowest GDP growth in more than 3 years Second-quarter figure

China reports lowest GDP growth in more than 3 years
Second-quarter figure falls below annual target range as monthly indicators highlight economic pressures

China has reported GDP growth of 4.3 per cent in the second quarter, the lowest reading since late 2022 when authorities lifted the country’s Covid-19 restrictions.

The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday was below an official annual target of 4.5-5 per cent and an expansion of 5 per cent year-on-year reported in the first quarter.

The growth figure was the lowest on record outside of the 2020-2022 period when the government implemented Covid lockdowns to contain the virus.

Monthly data released alongside the headline figure added to signs of economic pressures in China, where policymakers are grappling with a prolonged property slowdown that has weighed on consumer confidence.

Retail sales added just 1 per cent in June from a year earlier, while fixed-asset investment was down 5.7 per cent year on year for the first half of the year. Industrial production grew 5.3 per cent last month on a year earlier.

Lynn Song, chief greater China economist at ING, said China’s GDP data showed a “significant deceleration” from the first quarter.

He said that a “sharp weakening in monthly indicators”, which was “largely glossed over” in a “puzzling” first-quarter release, “showed up far more clearly in the second quarter”.

“Though the monthly activity data doesn’t translate directly into the GDP contribution, we’ve seen fixed-asset investment further crater into negative year-on-year growth [and] retail sales barely in positive territory,” he said.

“The monthly data suggest a bleak picture all around.”


Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast growth of 4.5 per cent for the second quarter. China said GDP growth was 4.7 per cent for the first half of 2026.

Unlike other major economies, China does not release quarterly breakdowns of GDP under the so-called expenditure approach — investment, consumption and net exports. This leads to a heavy focus on its monthly data series, and raises questions about their relationship to overall growth.

“The fiscal spending has been going down throughout the first five months,” Dan Wang, head of China at the Eurasia Group. “All the industry data, fiscal data . . . they can match together, they just don’t match with the GDP figure.

“The only factor that can explain this data discrepancy [between monthly indicators and GDP] is foreign demand,” she added.

“It’s impossible to do the investment and consumption side of the equation and make the accounting book work, it has to be net exports,” Wang said.


Separate data on Tuesday showed exports soared 27 per cent year on year in June, adding to signs of a heavy reliance on trade to support economic activity.

But Song noted that “net exports are actually still in negative year-on-year growth” thanks to a surge in imports.

Policymakers in China have also been grappling for years with the threat of deflation. But following the outbreak of war in Iran, China’s factory gate prices have soared, with implications for how GDP is adjusted for inflation.

Higher inflation would reduce “the support to the data from the GDP deflator”, Song said. A negative deflator stands to increase real growth compared to nominal growth.

>>> US After Hours Summary: PNR -14.6% sharply reduces guidance; AEHR +28.6%, SH

After Hours Summary: PNR -14.6% sharply reduces guidance; AEHR +28.6%, SHMD +14.2% higher on earnings/guidance; LION +8.7% higher on Reuters report that co is considering buyout; KRMN +5.7% to join S&P SmallCap 600

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AEHR +28.6% (also receives $8 mln in new orders for silicon carbide WLBI WaferPaks), SHMD +14.2%, KMTS +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: LION +8.7% (considering Bollore Group's interest in a buyout, according to Reuters), KRMN +5.7% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), QTRX +4.9% (Anthem to cover LucentAD Complete blood test), ORIC +3.3% (initiates Phase 3 Himalayas-1 trial for rinzimetostat in mCRPC; Bayer to supply NUBEQA), CSTL +2% (New York state approval for AdvanceAD-Tx atopic dermatitis test), OII +2% (selected by DIU for CAMP XLUUV design work), BUSE +1.7% (extends CEO contract), TLN +1.3% (reports PJM 2028/2029 auction results), BTSG +0.4% (to join S&P MidCap 400), AA +0.3% (reaches investment decision on Western Australia gallium plant), EQT +0.1% (discloses Q2 gain on derivatives)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: PNR -14.6% (sharply lowers Q2 and FY26 guidance; CFO steps down), PXED -8.3%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: WNC -14.3% (launches $100 mln convertible notes offering), CELC -5% (FDA approves REVTORPYK), ACEL -1.4% (names new COO), MOBI -0.8% (publishes VNS-REHAB data), SEER -0.5% (issues letter to shareholders), KBH -0.2% (files mixed securities shelf offering)

Reuters - Lionsgate Studios attracts takeover interest from Bollore, Banijay, so

Lionsgate Studios attracts takeover interest from Bollore, Banijay, sources say

  • Lionsgate has been working with an investment bank to evaluate inbound approaches
  • Bollore Group, owner of Canal+, wants to bolster its production capabilities
  • TV production company Banijay has considered ​a bid for the studio
  • Some interested parties walked away over share price

July 14 (Reuters) - Lionsgate Studios (LION.N), opens new tab, the entertainment company behind the "Hunger Games" and "John Wick" franchises, is exploring a sale and has attracted takeover interest from France's Bollore Group (BOLL.PA), opens new tab, as consolidation accelerates across the media industry, three people familiar with the matter said.

The company, which has ​a market value of about $3.8 billion, has been working with an investment bank to evaluate inbound approaches, ​the sources said, requesting anonymity because the discussions are confidential. Sources warn a deal ⁠is not certain, and Lionsgate could still remain independent.

Banijay Group (BNJ.AS), opens new tab, the television production company behind hits such as "Big ​Brother" and "Survivor" that earlier this year completed its merger with All3Media, is among other suitors that have considered a ​bid for Lionsgate Studios, two of the people said. A bid from Banijay may take time as the company remains focused on integrating All3Media, another source added.

Bollore wants to bolster the production capabilities of Canal+, the pay-TV company in which it holds ​a controlling interest.

Lionsgate and Banijay declined to comment. Bollore did not respond to a request for comment made ​outside of business hours. Shares in Lionsgate jumped as much as 9% in after-hours trading following the report by Reuters on possible ‌takeover interest.

The ⁠interest reflects a broader push by European media companies to build scale and secure sought-after intellectual property as they compete with global streaming giants. Lionsgate Studios owns a catalogue of films and television series that includes "The Twilight Saga" franchises and the recent Michael Jackson biopic "Michael," which grossed more than $1 billion at the box office.

The discussions ​come as Lionsgate director and ​shareholder Mark Rachesky earlier ⁠this month transferred the roughly 10% stake he holds through his private equity fund into a newly created investment vehicle backed by RenWave Kore, according to a securities filing, opens new tab. ​RenWave Kore, founded in 2024 by Cody Kittle, a former portfolio manager at activist ​investor Elliott ⁠Investment Management, is backed by Sequoia Heritage.

The valuation sought by shareholders could make it difficult for bidders to reach an agreement, two of the sources said. One of them added that previous interested parties walked away because of price ⁠expectations. Investors ​are paying 26 times expected pretax profit for shares in Lionsgate, ​according to LSEG data, a premium to peer companies.