UK group to merge with Cinema City International

Photo: wikipedia

Under the terms of the deal, Cineworld will purchase about 100 multiplexes from CCI for 503 million pounds.

However, CCI will maintain a 24.9 percent stake in the combined business.

CCI is run by an Israeli family but it has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2006. About 40 percent of its cinemas are in Poland, but it also has multiplexes in Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic and Israel.

Following the current deal, the combined business will have over 200 branches across the region.

“After nearly four decades in the cinema industry building a business from one country to seven, I see an impressive company in Cineworld and a good fit with Cinema City,” said Mooky Greidinger, Chief Executive Officer of CCI, in a statement.

Meanwhile, Anthony Bloom, chairman of Cineworld, has described the merger as “an exciting and unique opportunity for Cineworld to offer shareholders enhanced growth prospects and attractive returns via exposure to some of the most promising cinema markets in Europe.”

The merger follows the the takeover of the Multikino network in 2013 by another UK-based group, Vue Entertainment. Multikino had 28 multiplexes in Poland and two more in the Baltic states. (nh)

Source: investegate.co.uk