Bond Studio Pinewood In £300m Takeover Talks

The Pinewood film studio that is home to James Bond's movie franchise is in advanced talks to be sold to an international property fund for a price expected to be over £300m.

Sky News has learnt that Pinewood Group (LSE: PWS.L - news) , where parts of the Harry Potter series and the most recent Star Wars film were filmed, could announce a takeover as soon as this week.

The company is likely to be under pressure to issue a statement to the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) as soon as Thursday morning.

Sources said that the buyer was Aermont Capital, the investment adviser to real estate funds established by Perella Weinberg, a New York-based merchant bank.

However, they cautioned that the talks between Aermont and Pinewood had faltered on several occasions in recent weeks and could be delayed until next week or even fall apart.

If concluded, a takeover of Pinewood is likely to attract political attention, particularly in the wake of Theresa May's remarks that overseas purchases of British companies would face additional scrutiny during her time as Prime Minister.

Little is known about Aermont outside the property industry, although its website - which consists of a single page - lists three office addresses in London, Luxembourg and Madrid.

Much of its investors' money is understood to come from North America, Asia and Europe.

It has €4bn in capital and its funds are denominated in Euros, according to a source close to Aermont.

Aermont is run by Leon Bressler, a high-flying executive who previously ran Unibail, Europe's largest real estate investment trust.

There may be some concern that if the Aermont deal does go ahead, it would see Pinewood owned by a specialist property investor rather than a firm focused on the creative or media sectors.

Leading film and television industry stakeholders are likely to demand assurances about the way the company and its operations are run in those circumstances.

A deal would be the latest in a string of purchases of high-profile UK businesses in the month since the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Last week, ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) , a chip designer for Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) and other consumer products manufacturers, agreed a takeover by Japan's Softbank, worth £24.3bn, while the Odeon and UCI cinema chains have struck a deal to be sold to AMC (Taiwan OTC: 3585.TWO - news) of the US.

Foreign buyers have been persuaded to move on British corporate targets in recent weeks partly because of sterling's weakness, despite uncertainty about the outlook for the economy.

Pinewood's directors, who are led by the former BBC and ITV (LSE: ITV.L - news) boss Lord Grade, signalled their willingness to consider a takeover in February, when they said: "The board has now determined that it is appropriate to evaluate alternative opportunities to maximise value for the company's shareholders and to build on Pinewood's successes to date.

"We believe there is a requirement for a funding strategy to be in place to fully realise the company's future potential.

"Accordingly, Rothschild has been appointed to assist with a strategic review of the overall capital base and structure, which could include a sale of the company."

Pinewood, which has been trying to engineer a move to London's main stock market, has expanded internationally in recent years, launching studio operations in Canada, US, Dominican Republic and Malaysia, some of which are joint ventures.

The company said earlier this year: "Pinewood's shareholder register remains tightly held, which has continued to stifle liquidity in the shares and has prevented the company from achieving its aim of obtaining a main market listing."

It is unclear how a takeover by Aermont will be structured, whether the company would retain a stock exchange listing in some form, and whether major shareholders such as Peel Holdings will sell their entire stakes in Pinewood.

Pinewood, which has been the beneficiary of significant Government tax breaks, has launched its own television production and investment operation and invested last year in The Collection, a period drama created by Amazon.

The company also invests in films with smaller production budgets, with notable successes including multiple Oscar-winner The King's Speech.

Pinewood wants to raise more funds to expand its studio facilities at its Buckinghamshire base, and a takeover is likely to provide the financial firepower to enable it to do this.

Aermont and Pinewood, shares in which were flat at 580p on Wednesday, declined to comment.