A secondary offering of shares in Lions Gate Entertainment Corp by affiliates of billionaire investor Carl Icahn has been put on hold due to poor market conditions, a source with direct knowledge of the process said.

Icahn, who waged a lengthy battle for control of the Hollywood studio, agreed in August to sell his stake, and he and his son Brett were due to offload up to 44 million Lions Gate shares.

Under that sale agreement, Lions Gate and MHR Fund Management, controlled by director Mark Rachesky, bought 11 million shares each from Icahn.

The offering, of 19.2 million of the remaining shares, had been expected to price this week, according to a filing with regulators by Lions Gate.

The source asked not to be identified as he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The delay comes at a time when the U.S. IPO market has stalled amid concerns about Europe's debt crisis and a weak domestic economic recovery. Several offerings have been withdrawn in recent months.

Lions Gate shares were flat at $6.84 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore, additional reporting by Jochelle Mendonca, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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