danslittlefinger 'R'
Posts : 235 Member Since : 2011-03-19 Location : Somewhere where I will not make any deals with you. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered...
| Subject: Mohamed Al-Fayed to make offer bid for Pinewood? Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:01 pm | |
| http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1379332/The-names-Al-Fayed-Mohamed-Al-Fayed-Former-Harrods-boss-poised-make-offer-James-Bond-studios.html#ixzz1KC0PfZIa
The name's Al Fayed, Mohamed Al Fayed: Former Harrods boss poised to make an offer on James Bond studios.
Colourful Fulham football club chairman Mohamed Al Fayed is seeking to become a movie mogul.
The former owner of Harrods department store is set to put in a bid for Pinewood Shepperton PLC - the film studio behind such blockbusters as the James Bond and Harry Potter franchises.
Mr Al Fayed today confirmed he is considering an 'all-cash' bid for the historic UK studios after Pinewood had earlier announced it had received an £87.8million takeover offer from its largest shareholder, Peel Holdings Ltd.
Mr Al Fayed told the London Stock Exchange that he was considering a deal - but added that there was no certainty a firm offer would be forthcoming.
The company is currently planning an ambitious £20million upgrade to its famous studios in Buckinghamshire - which opened in 1934 - to add facilities on a par with its Hollywood competitors.
The studios, which include stages at two other locations, last year hosted the fourth instalment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, the final Harry Potter film and a new adaption of the Charlotte Bronte classic Jane Eyre. It has also been the long-standing base for most James Bond films. Productions underway include the next Clash Of The Titans film and several local TV shows. The company has also unveiled plans to invest in small-budget British films, to capitalise on the success of the The King's Speech, which became an international smash despite a relatively small £9million budget from producers.
Mr Al Fayed, who sold Harrods last year for £1.5billion to the investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, has shown a prior interest in film-making. He previously owned a studio in Egypt and funded the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots Of Fire, which was executive produced by his son, Dodi Fayed, who died in a Paris car accident with Princess Diana.
Mr Al Fayed caused controversy last month after he placed a £100,000 statue of pop star Michael Jackson in the grounds of Fulham FC. He told fans who ridiculed the statue to 'go to hell'.
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Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
| Subject: Re: Mohamed Al-Fayed to make offer bid for Pinewood? Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:55 am | |
| Great - presumably we can look forward to six shitty-looking statues of all the Bonds going up outside Pinewood should his bid be successful. |
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colly Q Branch
Posts : 782 Member Since : 2011-03-14 Location : Frozen in time
| Subject: Re: Mohamed Al-Fayed to make offer bid for Pinewood? Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:04 am | |
| Damn - I knew someone would beat me to making a statue gag. |
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danslittlefinger 'R'
Posts : 235 Member Since : 2011-03-19 Location : Somewhere where I will not make any deals with you. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered...
| Subject: Re: Mohamed Al-Fayed to make offer bid for Pinewood? Wed May 18, 2011 3:14 am | |
| Billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed said he would not make an offer for James Bond studio Pinewood Shepperton , three weeks after the British firm agreed to be bought over by property tycoon John Whittaker, reports Reuters.
Whittaker's property investment firm Peel Holdings, which is the largest shareholder in Pinewood with a 30 percent stake, did not support Al Fayed's 250-pence-per-share offer, despite topping Peel's latest bid pitched at 200 pence a share.
Last month, the board of the 75-year-old studio, which is also home to the Batman and the Pirates of the Caribbean films, unanimously backed Whittaker's bid.
On April 21, Al Fayed said he was considering making a cash bid for Pinewood Shepperton, whose studios have hosted more than 1,500 films, including blockbusters Casino Royale and Harry Potter.
Al Fayed, who owns the soccer club Fulham, sold the prestigious London department store Harrods to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund last year in a deal worth around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.43 billion).
Pinewood shares, which have gained nearly a quarter of their value since Peel's initial offer, were down 3 percent at 199.4 pence at 1425 GMT on the London Stock Exchange |
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Blunt Instrument 00 Agent
Posts : 6210 Member Since : 2011-03-20 Location : Propping up the bar
| Subject: Re: Mohamed Al-Fayed to make offer bid for Pinewood? Wed May 18, 2011 9:41 am | |
| No doubt if he'd been successful, the first film out of the studio would've been a conspiracy thriller about Diana and Dodi's deaths. |
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