EuropaCorp, the French studio created three years ago by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange LePogam, raised Euros 25m on the Paris stock market, through the issue of a convertible corporate bond on Friday.

The cash raised will be used to finance the development of the company and its slate of productions. EuropaCorp stressed that the proceeds of the cash raising exercise will not be used for the construction of its Cite De Cinema studios complex outside Paris at Seine Saint Denis. That "will have its own separate financing structure," said the company in a statement.

It continued: "This is the first time that this kind of financial tool has been used by a company that is not quoted on the stockmarket and also by one in the film sector."

The unquoted EuropaCorp last year made profits of Euros 15m, according to Besson in a recent newspaper interview. Other sources within the company have also indicated that EuropaCorp is examining the possibility of seeking a quotation on the Paris bourse.