Crystal Amber Calls For Pinewood Shepperton's Grade To Quit

29th Jun 2010 06:58

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Crystal Amber Fund Ltd. (CRS.LN) said Tuesday it will call for Pinewood Shepperton PLC's (PWS.LN) Chairman Michael Grade to step down at the film and television studios group's annual meeting today, as it said the management has failed to realize the true value of the business. In a statement the activist investment fund, which takes stakes in undervalued companies and holds an 18% stake in Pinewood--the studio behind the James Bond films--said it has pushed for Pinewood to develop its property assets and make costs more transparent. But it said no action has been taken and subsequent meetings with former ITV PLC (ITV.LN) chairman Grade have been "unproductive". "Crystal Amber believes that board renewal is now essential to improve the performance of the group, which has seen profits and return on capital fall by more than half in the six years since the business was floated in May 2004," the fund said in a statement. "We do not believe it is in the interests of shareholders that he (Grade) continues to lead the board," it added. The fund will also call for senior independent director Adrian Burn to step down, as it said he can no longer be considered an independent director as defined by the Combined Code on Corporate Governance. -By Hannah Benjamin, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9298; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 29, 2010 01:58 ET (05:58 GMT)