Film studio operator Pinewood Studios is exploring strategic options that could include a sale of the company, which two years ago opened a production site in Fayette County.
U.K.-based Pinewood said in a news release last week that it has hired investment banking giant Rothschild to assess operations and strategy.
It’s much too soon to say how the outcome might affect the Fayette complex, which Pinewood operates in a joint venture with local investors including Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. The Fayette studio opened in early 2014 and has attracted big scale productions including Marvel’s Ant-Man. More development at the site, including residences and retail, is in the works.
Pinewood said its strategic review is not driven by financial distress, but rather follows a move last year to broaden the tightly-held company’s shareholder base. The company is also looking to move its shares to the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The tight control of Pinewood stock — The Wall Street Journal reported last week that nearly 80 percent is controlled by three groups — has limited the company’s ability to move up its listing and made its stock less liquid.
“We believe Pinewood has the potential to build on the strong performance of the last few years to grow further both in the UK and internationally,” Pinewood Group CEO Ivan Dunleavy said in the release. “The Board is now looking to identify the best ways to create the appropriate capital structure to allow the Company to realize its goals in the best interests of shareholders.”
Pinewood is a farflung company with ties to blockbuster franchises. Its studios in England are where the James Bond and Star Wars franchises shoot. Principal photography on Star Wars: Episode VIII started at Pinewood Studios in London on Monday, the company said.
Pinewood’s decision to build in Georgia was used by state leaders as validation for lucrative incentives offered to the film and television industries. The state provides tax credits of up to 30 percent of a production’s eligible spending in the state, a perk that has fueled film and TV work in the state.
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