Reports are stating that European film giant, VUE Cinemas, which recently was battling a CVA proceeding of its own, is now in a position to take over Cineworld, which is crazy news if you know anything about this whole saga.
There have been reports for quite some time now suggesting that Cineworld is going to be taken over by another cinema chain; however, up until this point, nothing has happened yet.
There were reports suggesting that the Canadian cinema chain, Cineplex, was looking at taking control of Cineworld and its many, many sites across the UK and the US.
AMC Theatres was another company that was rumoured to be interested in purchasing Cineworld, but that whole thing ended up falling through at the very last second. We still don’t really know what happened there.
However, it sounds as though another pretty well-known UK cinema chain, VUE Cinemas, might be the ones who are going to end up buying out their closest rivals in Cineworld. We’re going to have to wait and see what happens, but also, let’s explore where this new report comes from.
Could VUE Cinemas be about to buy Cineworld?
Credit: lovebelfast.co.uk
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So, it’s being reported by the Mail On Sunday that creditors handling the bankruptcy proceedings for Cineworldthe world’s second-largest operator, were contacting VUE about a potential sale.
This is after news broke recently that AMC Theatres (who own Odeon in the UK) stated that they had been in touch with the team to see if they could take over some sites, which Cineworld overwhelmingly denied.
30 suitors are looking at buying the cinema chain
Credit: Cineworld
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Apparently, over 30 possible buyers have been contacted with no offers yet on the table, but we are getting ever close to the final date of February 16th for potential suitors. That date has, of course, passed, and we still don’t know what’s happening with the cinema chain.
Whilst proceedings in the US have largely been reported not to affect any UK sites or operations, any overall sale would see the Picturehouse and Cineworld UK sites taken over by the successful bidder.
Whether VUE, which has only just reduced its own operations, would be able to facilitate such a purchase still remains to be seen. However, VUE has a very big presence in the United Kingdom, so I wonder whether they might be looking at taking over Cineworld’s sites in the UK and not in the United States.
With VUE holding 91 cinemas in the UK, questions would also mount if the competitions watchdog would allow the company to add a further 103 Cineworld sites to its bounty. Its closest rival, Odeon, currently only holds 133 sites in the UK and Ireland.
All offers will have to be put forward towards the Judge in the chapter 11 bankruptcy court in the US for a decision to be made before the end of the month.
This is an evolving story. We will let you know as soon as we hear any new information about what’s going on in this space.
What do you make of the news? Will VUE take over Cineworld? Will Cineworld survive? Let us know in the comments below; we’d love to hear what you think.
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