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PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON
FLOATS IN LONDON
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ May 8th 2004 ]
THE studios
where the Harry Potter blockbusters are filmed
today made a successful debut on the stock market.
Shares in the British studios Pinewood Shepperton
- where a string of Oscar winning classics were
made - were "comfortably" oversubscribed. Prices
soared from 180p per share to 192.5p. The group,
which owns the Shepperton studios in Staines and
Pinewood studios in Slough - was given a market
value of £82million by the listing. Pinewood chairman
Michael Grade said he was "delighted" by the response
from investors. "Pinewood Shepperton is a household
name in the film and television industry and we
look forward to developing our reputation as a
public company," he said.
Pinewood
Studios started film production in 1936 following
the involvement of J Arthur Rank and has been
the setting for more than 650 feature films including
Great Expectations, Batman, Carry On Sergeant
and 30 other Carry On films. It has also played
host to 17 Bond movies including the latest, Die
Another Day, and the two Tomb Raider films. Shepperton
Studios started out in 1932 and has seen more
than 700 films produced, including The Guns Of
Navarone, Gandhi, Four Weddings And A Funeral
and Love Actually. The company was formed after
a management team led by Mr Grade bought Pinewood
Studios from the Rank Group in 2000 and then purchased
Shepperton Studios in February 2001.
The group,
which employs about 200 people, has 36 stages
across its two studios and owns the freehold to
the two sites, which together total more than
200 acres. In addition to major national and international
film production, the studios are used for filmed
television and studio television recording and
post-production sound services. The BBC quiz show
The Weakest Link is filmed at Pinewood. The group’s
largest customers include MGM, Paramount, Warner
Brothers. Disney, Universal-owned UK production
house Working Title and national British broadcasters.
Its turnover for the year to December 31 was £37.9million
with an operating profit of £10.9million.
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