Lionsgate Acquires Debmar-Mercury

SANTA MONICA, July 12: Lionsgate has acquired the
independent television distributor Debmar-Mercury, which owns the U.S.
distribution rights to South Park and The
Dead Zone, among others.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, grants Lionsgate entry
into the U.S. television syndication business. Debmar-Mercury will continue to
be run by Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Lionsgate.

Debmar-Mercury’s TV catalogue includes Comedy Central’s South
Park, USA Network’s The Dead Zone and SCI FI’s Farscape, among others. It also owns two major feature film
packages from Revolution Studios and a feature film package from Lionsgate.

Debmar-Mercury also recently completed a successful test of
Tyler Perry's first-run, original comedy series House Of Payne with select major market stations. Lionsgate worked
with Perry on Diary of a Mad Black Woman, among other releases.

"We again have the opportunity to combine our resources
with a culturally similar, entrepreneurial company that is a leader in its
market segment and whose principals we know well," said Lionsgate’s CEO,
Jon Feltheimer. "Debmar-Mercury has become one of the leading independent
distributors in the industry. With our fiscal 2007 slate of nine prime-time
television series, the acquisition of Debmar-Mercury's television distribution
capabilities across new and traditional media outlets is a natural growth
opportunity for our content business."