London, November 1, 2009

Access Industries' Media Affiliate Backs Stewart Till In Acquisition of Icon UK

The media arm of the US-based industrial group, Access Industries, has agreed to acquire the UK operations of the LA-based Icon Group. Icon Group is a film and entertainment business led by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey.

The transaction comprises Icon's international sales company, the distribution operation based in the UK and the Majestic Films & Television library. The business will continue to trade under the Icon name. Stewart Till will be appointed Icon UK's new Chief Executive Officer responsible for managing and developing the organisation and will also be an equity holder in the business.

The Icon Group will retain ownership of the Australian distribution and cinema assets. Icon UK and Icon Australia will continue to acquire territory distribution rights together. LA-based Icon Productions has also entered into a first-look deal with Icon UK.

Icon Distribution's upcoming UK slate includes Oren Peli's horror/action thriller Paranormal Activity, Richard Kelly's horror sci-fi thriller The Box, starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy - recently nominated for six British Independent Film Awards, John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron, the action thriller Edge of Darkness, directed by Martin Campbell starring Mel Gibson, the Lee Daniels drama Precious and Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man, starring Colin Firth.

Commenting on the deal, Stewart Till said: "This acquisition is a fantastic first step in our plans to build an international distribution network that will be operational in all the key major territories around the world, including Eastern Europe and Asia."

Added Bruce Davey, Chairman, Icon Group: "We're very pleased to have done a deal with Stewart and Access and to know that the Icon brand will be in such experienced hands. We look forward to continuing a close relationship between the Icon UK and Australian businesses and keenly anticipate the company's expansion plans into other territories."

About Stewart Till
Stewart Till was, until August 2009, Chairman of the UK Film Council, the body established by the Government to manage the lottery monies and grants they allocate to the UK film industry. He is Vice Chair of Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the UK's Audio-Visual Industries.

From 2002-2006, Till was Chairman and CEO of United International Pictures. United International Pictures (UIP), the international joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios International.

Before that, Stewart Till was President of Signpost Films, a worldwide production and distribution company formed after an agreement between Stewart Till, CDP Capital Communications and the Mosaic Media Group. In June 2000 he was awarded a CBE for services to the British film industry. In 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Goldsmiths College.

About Icon
Icon Productions, LLC is an independent motion picture production company founded in August 1989 by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey. Unlike most other independent production companies, Icon internally funds most of its development and production costs, allowing it to retain creative control of its projects. Icon also owns and operates an Australian film distribution company and cinema exhibition chain.

Icon Productions films include "Hamlet," "Forever Young", "The Man Without a Face," "Airborne," "Maverick," "Immortal Beloved," the Academy Award winning "Braveheart," "On Our Selection," "Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina," "187," "FairyTale: A True Story," "Payback," "An Ideal Husband," "Felicia's Journey," "What Women Want," "We Were Soldiers," "The Singing Detective," "Paparazzi," "The Passion Of The Christ," "Seraphim Falls" and "Apocalypto."

About Access Industries
Access Industries is a privately held, U.S.-based industrial group with long-term holdings worldwide. Access was founded in 1986 by its Chairman, Len Blavatnik, an American industrialist. Access' industrial focus spans three key sectors: natural resources and chemicals; telecommunications and media; and real estate. (www.accessindustries.com).

Access Industries’ holdings in the media sector currently include majority stakes in Perform Group (the online sports broadcaster), TopUpTV (a UK-based digital terrestrial TV service provider) and Amedia (an entertainment TV content developer and producer in Russia) together with minority stakes in RGE Group (a leading Israeli TV channels and production company) and Warner Music Group (one of the world's leading recorded music labels and music publishers).

Press Contact
Tristan Vanhegan
Brunswick Group, Stockholm
+44 783 4502461 tvanhegan@brunswickgroup.com

For Stewart Till:
Cathy Dunkley
Freud Communications
+44 203 003 6355/cathy@freud.com