HONG KONG – Imagi, the Hong Kong- and Los Angeles-based animation house responsible for last year's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" has shored up finance for its next generation of CG movies by bringing in a major outside investor.

          Company is selling new shares worth $311 million ($40 million) to Mark Pawley, former Asia Pacific investment banking head of Credit Suisse First Boston. Share sales give Pawley 18% of the enlarged company and right to nominate two directors to Imagi's board.

          Imagi, which has constructed a full-scale production "pipeline" and aims to deliver a new movie every eight months, says the proceeds will be used for "the development of four full length feature computer graphics imagery animation movies scheduled tentatively to be released from 2009 to 2011." It is currently in production on two comic book adaptations "Astro Boy" and "Gatchaman."

          Issue price of the new shares is HK$0.86, or some 40% higher than the average stock price last week. Pawley, who has been talking to the company for over nine months, is buying through his Oxley Spring Media company. 

          Since leaving Credit Suisse, British-educated Pawley has set up the Oxley Group as a Singapore-based investment group with interests in property, private equity and corporate financial services. In May, an Oxley-led consortium bought Singapore's iconic Raffles Hotel for S$650 million.

          Oxley's said its investment thesis behind the Imagi deal is "the expansion of capital for new projects that will increase sales in financial year 2009 and 2010."

          Last month Imagi announced that Summit Entertainment will distribute "Astro Boy" worldwide, except for Japan, Hong Kong and China.  It had previously announced that the picture was to be handled jointly by Warner Bros and the Weinstein Co. in a distribution deal.  Voice cast includes Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy, with Freddie Highmore in the title role.  David Bowers is directing from Timothy Harris' screenplay about a young robot created by a scientist to replace the son he has lost. Maryann Garger produces.

          Imagi's shares were suspended and did not trade Friday. Trading is skedded to begin again Monday.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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