DreamWorks Animation, which in the past decade has become one of the leaders in film animation, made a move toward going public on Tuesday by filing estimated terms of its initial public offering (IPO).
The company that made Shrek 2 and the recent Shark Tale said in a filing with United States regulators that it plans to offer 29-million shares at $23 to $25 each with expected proceeds of about $700-million in its initial public offering.
The filing signals that DreamWorks will soon start its IPO road show and go public within a few weeks.
It comes as Shark Tale set an October box office record with $49-million in receipts over its opening weekend. In its second week, the animated film brought in about $32-million and has total proceeds nearing $100-million.
DreamWorks Animation, a unit of the Hollywood motion picture studio by the same name, said its total shares outstanding will be $105,6-million, including 57-million Class A shares and 48-million Class B shares.
The price range pegs DreamWorks market value at around $2,5-billion, about half of the $4,56-billion figure for rival Pixar.
DreamWorks reported net income of $121-million and operating revenue of $341-million in the first six months of the year as it rode the success of its Shrek franchise.
Shrek 2, released in May, has become the third-highest grossing film of all time at about $440-million behind Titanic and Star Wars, according to Boxofficemojo.
The company, controlled by Hollywood moguls Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, filed to go public in July.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will sell 2,33-million shares in the DreamWorks Animation IPO for proceeds of about $55-million.
Allen sits on the board of DreamWorks Animation. He also co-founded and has been the primary financial investor in DreamWorks Studios since its founding in October 1994. – Sapa-AFP