Photo-Me duo in £70m sale

THE chairman and chief executive of Photo-Me International, who together own 37% of the photo booth company, are looking to offload a significant part of their holdings, worth about £70m.

Stockbroker Numis is believed to have been appointed to handle a placing of at least 60 million shares in the company, which would represent about half the combined holdings of chief executive Serge Crasnianski and nonexecutive chairman Dan David.

Crasnianski, 60, is the largest shareholder in Photo-Me. He own more than 69 million shares, or 19.1% of the company, worth just over £80 million. David, who joined Photo-Me in 1961, a year before it became a public company, owns 65.8 million shares worth £76.3 million.

Shares in Photo-Me received a boost last week when house broker Evolution Beeson Gregory increased its target price to 157p from 125p. Analyst Robin Chhabra said the upgrade followed a briefing with management that suggested 'the photo booth division, previously regarded as a cash cow, is set for a period of strong growth'.

Despite reporting a loss of £2.2 million in the year to April, the shares have had a remarkable run in recent months, having hit a low of 191/ 2p earlier in the year, closing on Friday at 116p. A dividend has not been paid since 2001.

Both Numis and Photo-Me declined to comment.