Lionsgate Entertainment Corp, the film studio behind the Hunger Games movie franchise, said it would buy premium television network Starz for $4.4-billion (U.S.) in cash and stock, in a deal that would unite two media companies with ties to cable mogul John Malone.

Lionsgate will pay $32.70 per share for Starz, representing a premium of nearly 16 per cent to Starz’s closing price on Wednesday.

Shares of Lionsgate were up 8.6 per cent in premarket trading. Starz shares were up 10.6 per cent below the offer price at $31.25.

Lionsgate expects the deal to be “highly accretive”, it said on Thursday.

As part of the deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, Lionsgate’s shares will be equally split into voting and non-voting shares.

The two companies had held on and off talks for more than a year. Starz was spun off from Malone’s Liberty Media Corp in 2013.

Since then there have been reports Starz had been in merger talks with a range of media companies, from Twenty-First Century Fox to CBS Corp and AMC Networks Inc.

Starz, which competes with HBO and Showtime, also develops original programming such as “Power,” a drama about a New York City drug dealer and “Outlander,” a fantasy series.

Lionsgate and Malone own shares in Starz, while Malone is also a Lionsgate shareholder who sits on its board.