Save The British Film Industry.Com

THE SUMMARY

The Pinewood Shepperton PLC  share price is at present highly vulnerable to a takeover and the global brand name can be sold to a foreign competitor, and the land they are on sold for a car park, supermarket distribution centre or housing at huge profit to an asset stripper AND huge loss to The UK.

Failure to obtain planning permission in The Public Inquiry or indeed success in getting permission to build £800 million houses on greenbelt land BOTH accelerate this scenario.

The takeover offer from John Whittaker of Peel Pegasus merely values the company, brand names and land at £96 million which a few years film Lottery Money ringfenced can easily pay for.  Certainly over 50% of the shares can be paid for by the 2011 and 2012 Lottery Money Ring Fenced for The Film Industry. This could have been taken into public ownership as a national asset, or at least public-private partnership. It is a vital strategic national asset. The Chinese Government described it as ’soft power’ in foreign policy. They are correct.

The capitalisation of Pinewood Shepperton PLC shares and ownership of assets (brandname, 75 year goodwill and reputation  plus land) has generally been under £60 million from 2009 to early 2011 and only kept this high by the second biggest shareholder making big purchases since October 2009 until they had to sell a very significant holding to mitigate losses on JJB shares.

It is staggering that the fate of JJB Sport Shops has been so decisive in the destiny of 007 James Bond’s traditional film home.

It should not have been allowed to be such a mess. The vital physical film studio should not be so vulnerable. This can cost over 30 000 film industry jobs out of 36 000 film industry jobs in the UK.

 The second biggest shareholder in 2010 and 2011 and the highly reputable Aberdeen Asset Management in 2011 publically calling for The Chairman to go as this potentially fantastic business is in a real mess. The share price and dividends way below floatation price and 2007 price. The Board strategy failing.  Understandably these shareholders had enough and gave up on this Board and sold off their shareholdings.

Almost anyone could muscle in on the act by buying shares. The buyer may be concerned abut the UK Film Industry or utterly hostile. It has all been left to chance.

A positive move is jeweller Warren James Holdings buying 19.2% of shares last week and they seem to have a longterm commitment to UK based film making and the glamour it can bring to their core business.

But they could sell tomorrow.

Many Property developers, asset strippers and non-UK film studio competitors have a strong financial incentive to buy the shares and close Pinewood as a film factory for hire facility.

Such a disaster would close The British Film Industry and create 90% unemployment among creative and blue collar film industry workers.

Our proposal for The Government to intervene – at least with many cities and towns across the UK make the leading shareholders an offer of free lands, EU monies they can not refuse to play ball – and relocate this expansion to Wiltshire, North Oxfordshire and  The West Midlands and therafter other UK regions   in the best interests of : a constantly expanding, secure robust UK film industry; the very best interests of a regenerated glamorous newly confident West Midlands;  the very best interests of a hard won blissful status quo in Iver Heath, South Bucks; the very best interests of the Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios  brandnames which are vital strategic assets for the UK.

Jonathan Stuart-Brown

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      www.savethebritishfilmindustry.com