Lens manufacturer Cooke Optics has sold a majority stake in the company to Caledonia Investments plc, a self-managed investment trust.
The current Cooke Optics management team, including Les Zellan (Chairman), Robert Howard (Chief Executive Officer) and Alan Merrills (Chief Operating Officer), remain in place, and day-to-day activities at the Leicester-based company will continue unchanged.
“We have been experiencing a sustained period of growth, and the time was right to look for a new investor to help us develop further,” said Les Zellan, Chairman, Cooke Optics. “Caledonia, another historic British company, has a reputation for long term investment and for supporting management teams to grow their businesses. With a strong financial partner in Caledonia, Cooke is in an excellent position to continue designing and making more of our coveted lenses for the film and television industry.”
Cooke’s most recent developments include the S7/i full frame lens range which anticipated the current large format trend; the Panchro/i Classic range which replicate the look of vintage Speed Panchro lenses but with modern housing, mounts and glass; and the Anamorphic/i SF range that adds more exaggerated anamorphic attributes including lens flare and oval bokeh. The company is also behind the lens metadata standard, /i Technology, which captures valuable lens information for use on-set and in post-production.
Jon Creamer
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