Isle of Man buys Pinewood shares
PINEWOOD Shepperton has agreed a deal with the Isle of Man government to source and advise on film investment opportunities for its £25m Media Development Fund.
As part of the deal the Isle of Man government has agreed to buy nearly five million shares from Peel at 250p each, at a total cost of around £12.2m.
Pinewood is 71% owned by Manchester property business Peel Group whose founder and chairman John Whittaker lives on the island. Around 27% is held by Stockport-based jeweller Warren James.
Under the terms of the deal Pinewood will receive an annual management fee; fees on film projects that the government invests in and a proportion of the revenues received from the UK distribution rights for films.
It will also receive and a proportion of the revenue received from the existing library of 97 Isle of Man government-funded films as a fee for managing the collection of revenues arising from those films.
Chief executive Ivan Dunleavy said: “This agreement is a further example of extending the reach of the Pinewood brand and builds on the company’s successful Pinewood Films initiative to play a bigger role in UK independent film and television production. Pinewood is a key part of the UK’s film industry which made an economic contribution to the UK economy of £4.6bn in 2011.”
