XML 80 R49.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.24.1.1.u2
Restructuring and Other (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]  
Restructuring and Other
Restructuring and other includes restructuring and severance costs, certain transaction and other costs, and certain unusual items, when applicable. During the years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, the Company also incurred certain other unusual charges or benefits, which are included in direct operating expense and distribution and marketing expense in the consolidated statements of operations and are described below. The following table sets forth restructuring and other and these other unusual charges or benefits and the statement of operations line items they are included in for the years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022:
Year Ended
March 31,
202420232022
 (Amounts in millions)
Restructuring and other:
Content and other impairments(1)
$377.3 $385.2 $— 
Severance(2)
Cash37.2 18.0 4.6 
Accelerated vesting on equity awards (see Note 13)9.4 4.2 — 
Total severance costs46.6 22.2 4.6 
COVID-19 related charges included in restructuring and other— 0.1 1.1 
Transaction and other costs (benefits)(3)
84.6 4.4 11.1 
Total Restructuring and Other508.5 411.9 16.8 
Other unusual charges not included in restructuring and other or the Company's operating segments:
Programming and content charges included in direct operating expense(4)
— 7.0 36.9 
COVID-19 related charges (benefit) included in:
Direct operating expense(5)
(1.0)(11.6)(3.6)
Distribution and marketing expense— — 0.2 
Charges related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine included in direct operating expense(6)
— — 5.9 
Total restructuring and other and other unusual charges not included in restructuring and other$507.5 $407.3 $56.2 
_______________________
(1)Media Networks Restructuring: In fiscal 2023, the Company began a plan to restructure its LIONSGATE+ business, which initially included exiting the business in seven international territories (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, the Nordics and Japan), and identifying additional cost-saving initiatives. This plan included a strategic review of content performance across Starz's domestic and international platforms, resulting in certain programming being removed from those platforms and written down to fair value.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, the Company continued executing its restructuring plan, including its evaluation of the programming on Starz's domestic and international platforms. In connection with this review, the Company cancelled certain ordered programming, and identified certain other programming with limited strategic purpose which was removed from the Starz platforms and abandoned by the Media Networks segment. In addition, as a result of the continuing review of its international territories, the Company has made the strategic decision to shut down the LIONSGATE+ service in Latin America and the United Kingdom ("U.K.") with the only remaining international operations being in Canada and India, resulting in additional content impairment charges.

As a result of these restructuring initiatives, the Company recorded content impairment charges related to the Media Networks segment in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 of $364.5 million and $379.3 million, respectively. The Company has incurred impairment charges from the inception of the plan through March 31, 2024 amounting to $743.8 million.

Under the current restructuring plan and ongoing strategic content review, the net future cash outlay is estimated to range from approximately $80 million to $90 million, which includes contractual commitments on content in
territories being exited or to be exited, and payments on the remaining amounts payable for content removed or that may be removed from its services. The amounts above will depend on the results of its strategic content review and amounts recoverable from alternative distribution strategies, if any, on content in domestic and foreign markets.

As the Company continues to evaluate the Media Networks business and its current restructuring plan in relation to the current micro and macroeconomic environment and the announced plan to separate the Company's Starz business (i.e., Media Networks segment) and Studio Business (i.e., Motion Picture and Television Production segments), including further strategic review of content performance and its strategy on a territory-by-territory basis, the Company may decide to expand its restructuring plan and exit additional territories or remove certain content off its platform in the future. Accordingly, the Company may incur additional content impairment and other restructuring charges beyond the estimates above.

Other Impairments: Amounts in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 also include $12.8 million of development costs written off in connection with changes in strategy in the Television Production segment as a result of the acquisition of eOne.

Amounts in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 also include an impairment of an operating lease right-of-use asset related to the Studio business and corporate facilities amounting to $5.8 million associated with a portion of a facility lease that will no longer be utilized by the Company. The impairment reflects a decline in market conditions since the inception of the lease impacting potential sublease opportunities, and represents the difference between the estimated fair value, which was determined based on the expected discounted future cash flows of the lease asset, and the carrying value.
(2)Severance costs in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 were primarily related to restructuring activities and other cost-saving initiatives. In fiscal 2024, amounts were due to restructuring activities including integration of the acquisition of eOne, LIONSGATE+ international restructuring and our Motion Picture and Television Production segment.
(3)Amounts in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 reflect transaction, integration and legal costs associated with certain strategic transactions, and restructuring activities and also include costs and benefits associated with legal and other matters. In fiscal 2024, these amounts include $49.2 million associated with the acquisition of additional interest in 3 Arts Entertainment. Due to the new arrangement representing a modification of terms of the compensation element under the previous arrangement which resulted in the reclassification of the equity award to a liability award, the Company recognized incremental compensation expense of $49.2 million, representing the excess of the fair value of the modified award over amounts previously expensed. See Note 11 for further information. In addition, transaction and other costs in fiscal 2024 includes approximately $16.6 million of a loss associated with a theft at a production of a 51% owned consolidated entity. The Company expects to recover a portion of this amount under its insurance coverage and from the noncontrolling interest holders of this entity. Transaction and other costs in fiscal 2024 also include a benefit of $5.4 million associated with an arrangement to migrate subscribers in some of the exited territories to a third-party in connection with the LIONSGATE+ international restructuring. The remaining amounts in fiscal 2024 primarily represent acquisition and integration costs related to the acquisition of eOne, and costs associated with the separation of the Starz Business from the Studio Business. In fiscal 2023, transaction and other costs include a benefit of $11.0 million for a settlement of a legal matter related to the Media Networks segment.
(4)Amounts represent certain unusual programming and content charges. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, the amounts represent development costs written off as a result of changes in strategy across the Company's theatrical slate in connection with certain management changes and changes in the theatrical marketplace in the Motion Picture segment. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, the amounts represent impairment charges recorded as a result of a strategic review of original programming on the STARZ platform, which identified certain titles with limited viewership or strategic purpose which were removed from the STARZ service and abandoned by the Media Networks segment (see Note 3). These charges are excluded from segment results and included in amortization of investment in film and television programs in direct operating expense on the consolidated statement of operations.
(5)Amounts reflected in direct operating expense include incremental costs associated with the pausing and restarting of productions including paying/hiring certain cast and crew, maintaining idle facilities and equipment costs resulting from circumstances associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic, net of insurance recoveries of $1.2 million, $14.1 million and $22.1 million in fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In the fiscal years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, insurance recoveries exceeded the incremental costs expensed in the year, resulting in a net benefit included in direct operating expense. The Company is in the process of seeking additional insurance recovery for some of these costs. The ultimate amount of insurance recovery cannot be estimated at this time.
(6)Amounts represent charges related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, primarily related to bad debt reserves for accounts receivable from customers in Russia, included in direct operating expense in the consolidated statements of operations.

Changes in the restructuring and other severance liability were as follows for the years ended March 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022:
Year Ended
March 31,
202420232022
 (Amounts in millions)
Severance liability
Beginning balance$8.7 $1.5 $5.7 
Accruals37.2 18.0 4.6 
Severance payments(22.3)(10.8)(8.8)
Ending balance(1)
$23.6 $8.7 $1.5 
_______________________
(1)As of March 31, 2024, the remaining severance liability of approximately $23.6 million is expected to be paid in the next 12 months.