Spotlight on Pinewood as it looks at sale options

Pinewood shares rose 18 per cent to 530p yesterday, valuing the group at £304m

James Bond actor Daniel Craig films a scene for ‘Spectre’ at Pinewood Studios (MGM/Columbia)

Pinewood, home to the Star Wars and James Bond films, has launched a review that could lead to a sale of the £300m business.

The studios, which include its UK base north of London and international joint ventures in Atlanta and Toronto, has appointed the investment bank Rothschild to examine its AIM-listed capital base and structure.

Ivan Dunleavy, the chief executive, said: “The Pinewood business has grown strongly over the past year. We want to raise additional capital to fulfil our expansion plans but we also want to broaden our share register and step up to the main list of the stock exchange.”

Its largest shareholder is the Isle of Man-based businessman John Whittaker’s property group, Peel Holdings, which has a 39 per cent stake. Warren James, the jeweller, has another 26 per cent and the insurer Aviva holds 13 per cent. This means Pinewood’s “free float”, of shares available to be traded, is below the 25 per cent required to list on the London Stock Exchange’s main market.

Pinewood shares rose 18 per cent to 530p yesterday, valuing the group at £304m.

On the back of a bumper year for the British film industry, Pinewood’s revenues have climbed and it said yesterday that it expected its full-year results to be better than it had forecast at the December interims. “We’re continuing to see very strong occupancy both in the UK and in our international studios,” Mr Dunleavy said.

New sound stages and 300,000sq ft of new facilities are due for completion in June this year, following a share placing last year that raised £30m.

But Mr Dunleavy would like to continue the second and third phases of the studio’s expansion plan, which require more capital.

Pinewood has attracted the attentions of Richard Bernstein, the Guernsey-based activist investor, and his Crystal Amber fund. The fund now has a 5 per cent stake in Pinewood.

Mr Bernstein tried and failed to oust Michael Grade, the chairman of Pinewood. Recently Mr Bernstein criticised Pinewood for not making more money from a string of blockbusters, including the two latest Star Wars films, that were partly filmed in its studios in Buckinghamshire.

Mr Dunleavy denied that the review had anything to do with Mr Bernstein’s holding in the business.