Latest in Standard & Poor’s

The upgrade from “B” follows “the significant improvement in Lionsgate‘s credit metrics since it closed on the acquisition of Summit Entertainment in 2012,” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services analyst Naveen Sarma says. After paying down some debt, and raking in big profits from movies including The Hunger Games, Lionsg…

The financial community is thumbs-up on Lionsgate’s $412.5M acquisition of Summit Entertainment. Lionsgate shares appreciated 6.3% since the companies announced the deal on Friday. And today Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it’s considering raising Lionsgate’s debt rating from its current ‘B-‘. The deal…

The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 4.3% today after central banks in the U.S., Europe, and Japan said that they’d help supply cash to avoid a credit crunch if the European debt crisis worsens. That buoyed media stocks: The Dow Jones U.S. Media Index was up nearly 4.4%. CBS shares rose 5.8%, giving it the…

This seems to be just what many angry shareholders wanted. Activist hedge fund Jana Partners and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board lobbied for just such a change in July when they bought 5.2% of the publishing, investment analysis and TV station company. The concern is that the hefty profits at S&P were being…

Walt Disney Co plans to sell $750 million worth of both five- and 10-year notes and $350 million of 30-year bonds, issuing its first 30-year debt in almost a decade. Disney is selling bonds for the second time this year despite Standard & Poor's saying the company already has "exceptional liquidity." But the Fed this…

UPDATE 4:10 PM: The markets couldn’t sustain an early afternoon rally amid concerns that France might lose its AAA debt rating and that Spain or Italy might default on payments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.6% while the S&P 500 dropped 4.4% and NASDAQ was down 4.1%. But media companies were mixed, with some…

Look out McGraw-Hill. Activist hedge fund Jana Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board have bought 5.2% of the publishing, investment analysis and TV station company — and say that they may try to break it up. The investors reported in SEC filings today that they have “no present plan or proposal” for…