Studio’s ally may gain seat on board

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. shareholder and director Mark Amin has sold three-quarters of his stake, a likely precursor to his not being nominated for reelection to the board this fall. That could pave the way for Lions Gate to nominate its largest shareholder, Mark Rachesky, who owns nearly 20% of the stock.

In an interview, Amin said he had sold 650,000 of his 830,000 shares since Thursday for “personal reasons” related to other financial pressures.

Amin, who gained a board seat in 2000 after selling his production company Trimark Pictures to the Santa Monica-based studio, said he had not yet decided whether he would seek reelection to the board. But earlier this year his shares fell below the level that required Lions Gate to nominate him as one of its four U.S. directors to its 12-member board. People close to the situation said Lions Gate planned to nominate Rachesky to fill Amin’s seat.

Last week, activist shareholder Carl Icahn, who has been tightening his grip on Lions Gate and also been seeking board seats, revealed that he had boosted his stake to 15.6% from 14.5% over the last month -- becoming the company’s largest shareholder behind Rachesky.

Rachesky, a New York investor, used to work for Icahn. But unlike his former boss, who has been critical of Lions Gate management, Rachesky has supported company chiefs Jon Feltheimer and Michael Burns.

In a mid-March regulatory filing, Rachesky changed his status to “active” from “passive” investor and said he might seek a board seat.

Icahn had been in negotiations with Lions Gate for board seats, but those talks broke down earlier this year.

Lions Gate has been girding for a potential proxy contest with Icahn. Given his continued moves to gain more control of the company, it’s possible Icahn will nominate his own slate of directors before the annual shareholders meeting Sept. 15. If he wants those nominees to be included in the Lions Gate proxy that will be circulated to shareholders, he must act promptly. However, that does not preclude Icahn from circulating his own slate.

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claudia.eller@latimes.com