Carl Icahn's Protege Challenges Him On Lions Gate (LGF)

Carl Icahn was looking to install his son Brett at the helm at Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), but he is meeting resistance from a surprising foe, his protégé, Mark Rachesky, according to the NY Post

Rachesky and Icahn have held positions in Lionsgate for years, and when they both began increasing their stakes at the same time, onlookers theorized that they were launching a joint effort to take over the studio.

But in a surprising regulatory filing, Rachesky, who is Lionsgate's largest shareholder with a 19.9% stake, not only said that there were no "relationships" between his funds and any other Lionsgate investors, but also added that he was "principally supportive" of the studio's strategy and management.

Rachesky's filing comes one day after Icahn launched a tender offer to acquire $325 million of Lionsgate's debt, and a week after the activist-investor publicly blasted the studio's management for "excessive" spending and the "reckless" purchase of the TV Guide network.

Rachesky's support of Lionsgate CEO John Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns will make it much more difficult for Icahn to convince Lionsgate investors to vote for his board nominees in the event of a proxy battle.

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