NEW YORK — Activist shareholder Carl Icahn raised the stakes in his yearlong dispute with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. on Friday, launching an all-out bid to take over the movie studio following disagreements over its spending.

The hostile bid comes a week after Lions Gate rejected Icahn’s offer to buy a larger minority stake and rewrote its bylaws to make such a takeover attempt more difficult in the future.

The new offer for all outstanding shares also raised the specter of Canadian government involvement because Icahn, an American, could own the Vancouver-based company and cause friction with the country’s cultural policies.

Icahn owns almost 19 percent of Lions Gate, and his new offer for the remainder was unchanged from the $6 per share he offered last month when he sought to increase his stake to just under 30 percent. That bid represented a 15 percent premium over the stock’s latest closing price at the time.

Shares rose 6 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $6.03 on Friday, but fell 8 cents to $5.95 in after-hours trading.

Lions Gate was behind the Oscar-winning movie “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.” It also owns the TV Guide network and made the “Saw” horror movies and such television shows as “Weeds” and “Nurse Jackie.” It will launch its mock superhero movie, “Kick-Ass,” next month after it premiered last week at the SXSW Film Festival.

Lions Gate management said it would review Icahn’s new bid, worth about $575 million.

 

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