Tiger Group to Host Auction for Legendary Camera Rental Firm, Birns & Sawyer
Tiger Group is currently accepting offers for a sealed-bid offering of the iconic TV and film production equipment rental and sales house Birns & Sawyer following the retirement of the business’ owner. All assets are being offered as a turnkey opportunity, with bids due by October 16th.
Founded in 1954, Birns & Sawyer is Los Angeles’ original motion picture camera rental house. The company rented equipment used on classic movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Easy Rider and Bullitt. In recent years, Birns & Sawyer emerged as a full-solution digital AV rental and sales house for any kind of production.
In 1998, cinematographer/gaffer William Meurer acquired Birns & Sawyer and merged the legacy business with his existing lighting and grip company, Gunner Lighting, making Birns & Sawyer a full solution rental house for any production.
“The seller, a 40-year veteran in the production industry, is ready to pass the baton to the next generation rental owner and enjoy his retirement,” said Jonathan Holiday of Tiger’s Commercial & Industrial Division. “This sale presents an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a Hollywood legend that historically generated $2.0 million in annual revenues with profit margins of 15% to 20%.”
Key inventory offered in the turnkey sale includes well-maintained cameras from Arri, Panasonic, and Sony; and lenses from manufacturers like Angenieux, Arri, Zeiss, Fujinon, Canon, Nikkor, and Cooke. Accessory equipment includes HD monitors, lens controls, data storage, matte boxes, filters, tripods, dollies, jobs, light kits, batteries, stands, overheads, chimeras, and generators. Intellectual property includes the company name, website, phone number, and customer list. Other assets include two production vans.
Bids are due by 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Oct. 16. All interested parties should contact Jonathan Holiday of Tiger’s Commercial & Industrial division: jholiday@tigergroup.com to receive a bid package.
The Birns & Sawyer offering represents the latest in a series of sales and auctions from Tiger for AV companies based in Southern California and other parts of the U.S.
