Buckinghamshire: Pinewood Group to be acquired by Bidco through Aermont Capital

Pinewood Group, which owns the famous Pinewood and Shepperton Studios, home to a host of blockbuster movies including the latest James Bond and Star Wars films, is being acquired through Aermont Capital for a sum in excess of £400 million.

Bidco, a newly-incorporated company indirectly owned by PW Fund III, a series of funds advised by Aermont, is buying the issued share capital of Pinewood, and will pay £323.3m for the company which also incorporates the existing drawn debt, taking the total value of the business above £400m.

The acquisition is being financed by a combination of a preferred equity acquisition loan of £60m and a rollover of an existing £135m senior debt facility provided by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, RBS, HSBC and Barclays. Brookland Partners has advised Aermont on arranging the overall debt package.

Bidco plans to continue to operate Pinewood as an independent British business. It is expected to incur fees in the region of £5.47m, which includes £2m in legal advice and £720,000 on financing arrangements.

Pinewood Group announced last year that it was planning to increase the overall studio production space at Pinewood Studios by around 50%. The increase will provide five new large stages, 10 workshops, two production office buildings and associated infrastructure and landscaping.

Credit: CoStar