Pinewood film studios – home to the James Bond movies – are set to be sold for £323.3m.
Pinewood Group’s two biggest shareholders have tentatively agreed to sell the famous film and television studios to a property investor.
The deal depends on Aermont, which runs property investment funds, securing financing in the next four weeks.
Pinewood’s 007 stage is one of the world’s largest and was used to film parts of Spectre and Skyfall.
Some of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was also filmed at Pinewood in Buckinghamshire. However, Harrison Ford, the actor who plays Han Solo, was injured when the door of the Millennium Falcon closed on him and broke his leg.
Goodweather Investment Management, which is owned by property investors Peel Holdings, and Warren James Holdings, owner of the eponymous jewellery chain, together control 65% of Pinewood Group and have agreed to the cash sale providing the buyer secures financing.
The prospective new owner intends to keep the existing management in place, led by chief executive Ivan Dunleavy. The company has film and TV studios all over the world including in the US, Canada, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic.
Earlier this year, Pinewood Group retained investment bank Rothschild to examine its strategic options. In the past, it had been constrained from raising additional funding for investment via the stock exchange.
Shares in Pinewood were down 4.8% at 552.1p in afternoon trading.
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Source: BBC