Business Briefs
The 25% float on the London Stock Exchange is expected to give Static a valuation of $230 million-$300 million -- not bad for a 3-year-old company whose revenues still amount to less than $2 million per year.
All of that is set to change in a few months, however, as distrib deals kick in with BSkyB and ONdigital in the U.K., and Canal Plus-owned Canal Satellite in France.
-- Andrew Paxman
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LONDON -- TV, music and radio group Chrysalis reported healthy numbers for the six months through Feb. 29, with revenues up 28% to £81.7 million ($122.5 million).
Chrysalis also fired a five-part salvo of new-media ventures -- in the wake of a $40 million stock offering in January -- which include investments in music and lifestyle Web sites.
The positive numbers were driven by the success of such ITV shows as “Formula One” and “Midsomer Murders,” music sales and a 44% jump in media product revenues (primarily books and DVDs).
-- Andrew Paxman
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BERLIN -- After taking a 10% stake in German theater chain Ufa, Hamburg-based exhib Cinemaxx has crossed the border into Denmark to establish a local subsidiary and is set to become the leading multiplex chain in that country by year’s end.
Cinemaxx merged its Copenhagen-based operations with Danish exhib All Right Brother Biografer, whose top execs will run Cinemaxx Denmark.
In addition to managing the former All Right Brother theaters, Cinemaxx will open in September a 1,850-seat multiplex in Odense; in October, it will open Scandinavia’s biggest multi in Copenhagen with over 3,200 seats.
-- Ed Meza
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BERLIN -- Constantin Film execs are playing down reports that the company is mulling a TV channel.
The Munich-based producer-distributor said getting into TV would not make much sense since the German market is pretty saturated and would be better left in the hands of established players.
But Constantin did acknowledge that it was making TV production as integral to the company as filmmaking.
-- Ed Meza
