Save The British Film Industry.Com

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7017834.ece

The Sunday Times is reporting what we have been telling you for months, and some of you for twelve months.

Richard Bernstein of Crystal Amber is a very shrewd man. He has built up a 16.6% stake in Pinewood Shepperton PLC. He wants Michael Grade, the chairman of the film studio group, to re-examine his strategy for the business.

The Sunday Times suggests that he wants to  develop aggressively its property assets, which include unused land on its back lot.

In fact we told you that Shepperton was in this position, and now Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath as well.

The Sunday Times thinks that Crystal Amber  has canvassed fellow shareholders for support.

John Whittaker with 26.8%, is Peel Holdings, the property group behind the BBC North  in Media City in Salford. Aberdeen Asset Management and SVG Capital have shares which push the quartet well over 50% control ie they can jointly sack The Board.

Pinewood shares have consistently underperformed The FTSE 100 until the last three weeks when Crystal Amber bought big, and indeed were the only real buyers except for people making £100 punts.  The punts were in expectation that Crystal Amber were in the know that John Whittaker was about to make a takeover bid with share offer. As a result of these punts it looks like Pinewood outperformed the FTSE All-Share index by 14% in the past year when in fact it is only recent speculation that has dragged its price up from £57 million.

It is now under, but two months ago massively under, the 2004 float price of 180p when Pinewood and Shepperton were valued at £97 million.  At best they are now valued at £74 million, but this was the silly punts distorting the general £57-60 million of the last year.

The company, which mainly earns income from rent to Hollywood film productions (who hire the staff freelance) to film the biggest blockbusters, including Sherlock Holmes, Mission Impossible, Russell Crowe’s new Robin Hood movie, has diversified into television to  increase income stream.  It has in fact managed to pick up the huge number of TV productions which Birmingham would have had if The BBC had not closed its second biggest production centre in The UK in 2004.

Pinewood has expanded in the last year into Canada, and will soon be in Malaysia and thereafter China, Brazil and other countries are targetted.

Project Pinewood (mainly a £500 to £800 million housing estate on greenbelt land in Iver Heath)  has failed to get planning permission and is doomed, doomed, doomed on appeal.

The Sunday Times might, just might, note that the shareholders are mystified why Pinewood Board’s attitude is so very hostile to any overtures of  sweeteners such as land plus money from UK regions, chiefly Birmingham, to have a UK expansion policy.

Pinewood Board representative were less than welcoming to a Birmingham bid from Gisela Stuart MP ten days ago.

Gisela Stuart has now put the ball in  Birmingham Council’s chief executive Stephen Hughes, asking him to develop a package to attract Pinewood should they lose the appeal against refusal of permission for the expansion on greenbelt land.

http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/january09/stuart-vow-to-keep-focus-on-movies-280110.html

Oh to be at the shareholder and Michael Grade meeting !!!

Jonathan Stuart-Brown

www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com