Vancouver: A former stock broker who made his fortune on the Vancouver Stock Exchange is turning himself into an instant Canadian movie mogul with an investment of up to $200 million and an aggressive acquisition track.

Frank Giustra, 40, chair and ceo of Vancouver-based Yorkton Securities until he left last November, has bought North Shore Studios in North Vancouver. Industry insiders peg the sale price at about $42 million.

Paul Bronfman, president of Comweb in Toronto, confirms the sale has gone through and that Giustra – through his Vancouver-based company Lions Gate Entertainment – has bought Comweb’s 35% stake and Stephen J. Cannell’s 65% stake in the six-stage complex.

‘Cannell was no longer a tenant in the studio,’ says Bronfman. ‘The main reason for being involved was so that [Cannell] could put his shows in there. And as a minority shareholder, I thought Frank was paying a fair price.’

Bronfman stresses that nothing will change at North Shore except the ownership. He and Cannell representative Mike Dubelko will stay on the management team as they have for nine years. Peter Lietch, he adds, will remain gm.

‘Frank wants to assemble top-level companies, leaders in their fields,’ says Bronfman.

Giustra, however, declined to comment on this story, waiting instead for what most expect to be a splashy announcement during the Vancouver International Film Festival and Trade Forum Sept. 26 to Oct. 12.

But the local industry is talking and most suggest that Lions Gate is definitely on the fast track. According to several sources, Giustra has anywhere from $175 million to $200 million to spend on acquisitions.

Along with North Shore, Giustra has also secured all or part of Vancouver-based interactive media company Motion Works and is negotiating to buy all or part of Montreal production and distribution company Cinepix Film Properties.

While Motion Works chief executive Don Gray says no ownership is changing hands and declines comment on whether he is negotiating with Giustra, film producer Rob Straight of Gray’s sister company Everest Entertainment of Vancouver says a deal is in place.

(Motion Works and Everest are both subsidiaries of Greenlight Communications. Everest, adds Straight, is going through its own undisclosed ownership changes, but Giustra is not involved in that deal.)

Jeff Sackman, executive vp in Toronto for Montreal-based cfp, also declined comment on his negotiations with Giustra. However, several sources indicate that all or part of cfp will be owned by Lions Gate.

And street rumors persist that Giustra is also making a play to buy controlling interest of post-production company Rainmaker Digital in Vancouver. Again, Rainmaker had no comment on the rumors.

Pete Mitchell, B.C. Film Commissioner, says he doesn’t know all details on the deals, but is enthusiastic about the potential. ‘It’s great because it sounds like a huge injection of capital and the addition of management skills for the industry,’ says Mitchell.

One reason for the delay in announcing the acquisitions may be the time required for the initial public offering which, according to sources, Giustra is preparing to make with Lions Gate.

Giustra has had an abiding interest in film and television production since he was a broker. He was involved in producing the feature The Great Train Robbery with Phil Collins and had a hand in other film ventures. When he left Yorkton, he expressed the goal to get involved in the film business.

At Yorkton, where he worked for nearly two decades, Giustra is credited with transforming the company from a local penny-stock dealer into a full-service, international investment house specializing in junior mining companies. He spent seven years in Europe establishing branch offices in Zurich and London.

His departure late last year is shrouded in some mystery involving an internal power struggle although Giustra maintains he left Yorkton of his own accord to pursue other interests.