Peel may have to up £88m Pinewood bid
PEEL Holdings may have to up its offer for film studios Pinewood Shepperton if it wants to secure the deal.
It emerged on Friday that Manchester-based Peel had offered 190p a share, valuing the business at £87.8m.
Roy Kaitcer, divisional director at Brewin Dolphin in Manchester, said a figure of 220p-225p may be required to win over the other major shareholders such as Crystal Amber which holds 28.9%.
“We haven’t had any response from Crystal Amber yet so we don’t know what price they want to do a deal but the feeling is 220p or 225p will seal it,” said Mr Kaitcer.
This view was backed by market sentiment this morning which pushed the shares up 7% to 199p in early trading.
Pinewood announced the bid by Peel – which already holds a 29.78% stake – in a statement to the stock market on Friday evening.
“This approach may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company. A further announcement will be made in due course,” said Pinewood, which is famous for the production of James Bond and Harry Potter films. Pinewood has studios in Pinewood in Buckinghamshire, and Shepperton and Teddington in Middlesex,
Peel, which agreed a £1.6bn deal to sell the Trafford Centre to Capital Shopping Centres in January, is responsible for developing MediaCity at Salford Quays which will be home to BBC North and new facilities for ITV.
The business, led by John Whittaker, has assets worth £6bn which include the Manchester Ship Canal, Mersey Docks, a share in Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and the 1,000-acre Hulton Park estate near Bolton.
