A British visual effects producer whose recent credits include Daniel Craig’s final performance as James Bond is being poised for a sale that could be worth in excess of £300million.
Sky News has learned that London-based Cinesite has engaged Goldman Sachs to review strategic options amid a spate of deals in the industry.
City sources said a full sale of the company is a likely outcome later this year.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1991 to work on a restoration of the classic Walt Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinesite has worked on recent Hollywood films such as No Time To Die and Spider-Man: No Time To Die way home”.
The company is minority-owned by Gryphion Capital Investments, which backed it in 2019 along with new credit facilities from Barclays and NatWest.
It is assumed that management and employees are also shareholders of the company.
Goldman’s appointment to explore a sale comes as rising demand from streaming platforms like Netflix spurs revenue growth at visual effects houses like Cinesite.
Weta Digital, the studio founded by Sir Peter Jackson, was recently sold to video game maker Unity Software for $1.6 billion, while Netflix itself bought Scanline VFX, a German-based competitor.
Cinesite has expanded its expertise into animated content and counts Amazon-owned companies MGM, Walt Disney and Sony Pictures Animation among its key studio partners.
