Peel to put Pinewood offer to shareholders
PEEL Holdings will put its £96.1m recommended offer for Pinewood Shepperton to the film studios’ shareholders next week.
An offer document will be sent out on June 3 but Manchester-based Peel has already won effective control of the business after gaining the support of its board and a major shareholder, and by rebuffing a potential rival bid by the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed.
Peel has a 29.7% stake and its offer has been accepted by major investor Crystal Amber, which has 28.9%, and the directors who have around 4%.
It is offering 200p-a-share which values Pinewood at £92.4m, or £96.1m including a final dividend. In a statement to the stock market detailing the offer it said it was also prepared to issue loan notes in exchange for shares.
Mohamed Al Fayed abandoned his plans for Pinewood on May 17. He was prepared to offer 250p, the figure at which Crystal Amber would no longer be tied to Peel’s offer, but there was no prospect of tempting Peel to sell.
Pinewood has studios in Pinewood in Buckinghamshire, and Shepperton and Teddington in Middlesex. The 75-year-old production site has more than 34 stages and five television studios.
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.
It is particularly interested in developing the £200m Project Pinewood scheme – the proposed development of 113 acres into workspace and 1,400 homes in the style of famous locations around the world which Pinewood plans to use as sets. A planning inquiry into the project is underway.
