Image Asks Lions Gate to Raise Its Takeover Bid

DVD and compact disc producer Image Entertainment Inc. of Chatsworth said it asked independent film studio Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. to raise its takeover bid by the end of October.

At the end of August, Lions Gate made an unsolicited offer that valued Image at $83 million to $92 million. The company, which already owns about 19% of Image, proposed swapping 0.38 to 0.42 of one of its shares for each Image share it did not already own.

Lions Gate’s stock has dropped since it launched the bid. Its shares closed at $8.36 on Thursday, depleting the value of its offer to around $68 million to $75 million.