The Manx government has sold about half of its shares in Pinewood Group plc for about 50 per cent more than it paid for them.
The deal, which makes a net profit in the region of £2.5m for the public funds of the island, was announced on the Stock Exchange this morning.
The sale, yielding a total return of £7.6m, cuts the Manx government holding in the film studios from 9.9 per cent to 4.99 per cent but it still holds shares valued at around £10.7m.
Pinewood’s management of the island’s media development fund, which is a separate arrangement, is unaffected by the sale.
Treasury Minister Eddie Teare said: ‘Pinewood has been raising capital for the expansion of its studios and this has presented us with an opportunity to realise the value of some of our shareholding in the group.
‘Fifty per cent is a nice return on an investment so this is very good news for the government and public of the Isle of Man.’
The Treasury purchased a total of 4,891,582 shares at £2.50 a share in October 2012 - at a total cost of £12.23m taken from the government’s investment reserves.
Today, the Treasury sold 2,026,827 of those shares and now retains 2,864,755. Peel Holdings also agreed to sell a proportion of its shares.
The Isle of Man’s overall stake in Pinewood has halved to 4.99 per cent although Treasury has sold less than half – 41.4 per cent - of its shares.
The shares were sold at £3.75, raising £7.6m and making a profit of £2.5. Giving a value of £3.75 a share for the remaining shareholding gives a figure of £10.7m.
