Pearl and Dean picked up for a quid

Cinema advertising legend Pearl and Dean is being sold for just £1.

Fancy picking up a big name for a quid? It’s becoming an increasingly common prospect, as where the Evening Standard and the Independent have gone, Pearl and Dean is following.

Yes, the famous cinema advertising company with its distinctive Morse Code-like tune has become the latest famous name to be priced at just £1.

In a trading update, owners STV Group said it had seen a strong improvement in advertising and the sale of Pearl and Dean to buyers Image Ltd would allow it to increase its investment in high definition TV.

Pearl & Dean was put up for sale by STV Group nearly four years ago and has been making a loss since signing a 2004 contract which guaranteed minimum payments to the multiplex operator Vue.

Although the sale price is just £1, STV will recoup £9.1m from the business due to a 2010 payment it had already made to Vue Cinemas.

Founded in 1953, Pearl & Dean is the second largest cinema advertising contractor in the UK, with a market share of 36.6 per cent.

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