Sale agreed for Pinewood film studios
A sale price of £323.3m has been agreed for the Pinewood Group that will help the company expand its flagship UK facility in the coming years.
Aermont Capital will buy Pinewood through private equity fund Bidco, months after the studio initiated a financial structure review. Expansion of the south-east England site will be aided by the sale.
“The Board believes that Bidco can provide Pinewood with the platform required for future growth,” said Lord Grade, chairman of Pinewood.
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“The Pinewood Group has been transformed in recent years but has been somewhat constrained in realising its ambitions due to the lack of share liquidity," Lord Grade said. "As a result of the strategic review instigated by the Board, Pinewood now has the prospect of a funding structure for the future.”
Pinewood’s south-east England base is the home of the James Bond franchise and has also hosted the last three Star Wars movies. Pinewood Studio Wales is based near Cardiff and has hosted scenes for US drama series The Bastard Executioner and the BBC’s Sherlock, as well as social satire Decline and Fall, which stars comedian Jack Whitehall.
Five new sound stages were recently opened at Pinewood’s main UK site near London as the culmination of Phase One of the Pinewood Studios Development Framework. Further expansion will take place in the coming years to help increase the UK’s purpose-built studio resources.
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