Cineplex is reportedly shopping itself around to potential buyers.
According to Bloomberg, Ellis Jacob, the Canadian movie chain’s long-running CEO, has been speaking with counterparts at other theatre companies, including the U.S.’ Cinemark Holdings and UK’s Regal Cineworld Group. That said, these conversations are said to be in the early stages and may not result in any formal deal being struck.
A buyout of Cineplex would be major news, given that the company is by far Canada’s dominant theatre chain with a roughly 75 per cent market share. Notably, this isn’t the first time Cineplex has explored selling itself. In December 2019, Cineworld actually announced a deal to acquire Cineplex for about US $2 billion, a move that would have made it North America’s largest theatre chain.
However, Cineworld terminated the deal less than a year later, alleging material adverse effect and breaches from Cineplex. The Canadian theatre chain later successfully sued Cineworld for over $1 billion, although it never got the money because Cineworld eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2022. That said, it returned one year later with new leadership, and presumably, that’s why Cineplex would even entertain another deal with the company despite that previous bad blood.
It remains to be seen whether Cineplex will ultimately be sold.
Source: Bloomberg
