Regal Parent Company Cineworld Explores Potential Sale of UK Cinemas

Jeremy Fuster
·2-min read

Cineworld, the parent company of Regal Cinemas, is reportedly exploring a sale or restructuring of its cinemas in the United Kingdom.

On Saturday, Sky News reported that Cineworld has hired restructuring consultant company AlixPartners to help oversee the process as potential bidders have been contacted. Cineworld operates approximately 100 theaters in the UK as part of a multinational chain that spans 747 locations in 10 countries.

But Sky also reported that Cineworld could explore further restructuring in lieu of a sale, which could lead to the closure of some of its British multiplexes. In a statement, a spokesperson for the chain said, “Like many businesses, we are continually reviewing our UK operations.”

During the peak of the box office in the late 2010s, Cineworld grew into one of the top companies in the movie theater industry, acquiring Regal Cinemas in 2018. But that acquisition contributed to significant debt that came to consume Cineworld when the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters worldwide for a year.

Crippled by those closures and the slow recovery of the box office, Cineworld filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. in September 2022 and delisted from the London Stock Exchange a year later, putting it under the administration of lenders with former Cinepolis exec Eduardo Acuna hired as CEO. With that delisting, Cineworld no longer publicly reports earnings.

As part of the deal that allowed it to exit bankruptcy, Cineworld exchanged its debt for shares given to a consortium of investors and hedge funds that injected billions in cash. The company also agreed to not seek any sale of its U.S., U.K., or Ireland businesses without an all-cash bid significantly hire than what the company was valued for in bankruptcy restructuring.

Like the rest of the global box office, Cineworld and Regal have been weathering a rough first half of 2024 exacerbated by a mix of underperforming films like Universal’s “The Fall Guy” and delays to major titles caused by last year’s Hollywood strikes. The U.K. box office currently stands at $455 million, down 9% from 2023 to date, while the $2.7 billion grossed in the U.S. is down 26% to date compared to last year.

Exhibitors are trying to hold on in the hopes that 2025, a year that will have more frequent Hollywood releases and top titles like “Michael,” “Superman,” and “Avatar 3,” will lead the box office to higher and more consistent grosses. There’s also hope that the latter half of 2024 will also have more consistent box office performance with films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Moana 2” and “Wicked” on the horizon.

The post Regal Parent Company Cineworld Explores Potential Sale of UK Cinemas appeared first on TheWrap.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Singapore Airlines And Two More Top Dividend Stocks On SGX

    In recent times, the Singapore market has shown a steady, flat performance both over the past week and year, with expectations of earnings growth at an annual rate of 9.2% in the coming years. In such a stable market environment, dividend stocks like Singapore Airlines offer potential for consistent returns, making them an attractive option for investors seeking regular income streams.

  • Singapore home prices slow, rents fall in cooling market

    Singapore private home prices rose less than estimated and rents edged down in the second quarter, following government efforts to tame the real estate boom.

  • The Soaring Yen Is a Big Concern for Markets. Why the Currency Is a Threat to Carry Trade.

    One thing to keep an eye on today is the Japanese yen. After a long period of weakening, driven by the Federal Reserve's reluctance to cut interest rates and the Bank of Japan's reluctance to raise them, the tables have now turned. The yen has strengthened to about 150 against the dollar from more than 160 just two weeks ago.

  • Stock market news today: Dow jumps over 650 points as stock surge caps volatile week on Wall Street

    Investors are looking to the Fed-favored inflation data to calibrate the timing and depth of rate cuts.

  • Fed seen holding rates steady in July, start cuts in Sept

    Before the data, traders had priced in about a 9% chance of a rate cut when the Fed meets next week, but knocked that down to under 7% after a government report showed the economy grew at a 2.8% pace last quarter, faster than had been expected and double the pace in the first quarter of the year. The reacceleration "should help temper concerns about the durability of the expansion and quiet chatter that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates in July," wrote Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet. Traders of futures contracts tied to the Fed policy rate continue to price in quarter-point interest-rate cuts in each of September, November and December, as they also pared bets on a possible bigger rate cut to start the series.

  • iFAST Corporation Hikes its 2Q 2024 Dividend by 36%: Can the Fintech Continue Raising its Dividends?

    The group released a sparkling set of earnings for the quarter which saw its assets under administration hit a new record. The post iFAST Corporation Hikes its 2Q 2024 Dividend by 36%: Can the Fintech Continue Raising its Dividends? appeared first on The Smart Investor.

  • The US economy is pulling off something historic

    The US economy is on the verge of an extremely rare achievement.

  • China central bank surprises by lending again at lower rates

    China's central bank surprised markets for a second time this week by conducting an unscheduled lending operation on Thursday at steeply lower rates, suggesting authorities are trying to provide heavier monetary stimulus to prop up the economy. The medium-term lending facility (MLF) operation comes after the central bank cut several benchmark lending rates on Monday, just days after a top leadership meeting, which had outlined other major reforms. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) issued 200 billion yuan ($27.5 billion) in one-year loans under its MLF at 2.30%, down 20 basis points from its previous MLF loan, the bank said in a statement.

  • Fed's preferred inflation gauge shows prices rose at slowest pace since March 2021

    The latest reading on the Fed Reserve's preferred inflation gauge comes just days before the Fed's next policy meeting as investors look for clues on when interest rate cuts might begin.

  • Charlie Munger Said 'The Point Of Getting Rich Is So You Don't Have To Get Along With Other People' – He Wanted The Independence, Not The Ferraris

    Last year, just months before his passing at 99, legendary investor Charlie Munger sat down for a rare and insightful interview on the Acquired podcast. Munger, best known as Warren Buffett’s right-hand man and the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, shared his wisdom on investing, business, and life. Don't Miss: Can you guess how much the average retirement account balance is? Here’s a hint — it’s only slightly more than a year’s worth of expenses. How much money will a $200,000 annuity pay ou

  • Apple's China smartphone shipments drop 6.7% as Huawei surges, data shows

    BEIJING (Reuters) -Apple's smartphone shipments in China fell by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2024, as the tech giant faced intensifying competition from rivals like Huawei, according to data from market research firm Canalys. Apple's total shipments for the quarter ending in June stood at 9.7 million units, down from 10.4 million units in the same quarter last year, Canalys data shows. In contrast, Huawei's smartphone shipments surged 41% year-on-year to 10.6 milion in the quarter, bolstered by the launch of its new Pura 70 series in April.

  • Google shows investor patience with Big Tech's AI spending might be running short

    Wall Street’s AI optimism shrinks when the main business is under pressure.

  • Dollar treads water after tame US inflation report, yen rally stalls

    NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar ended little changed on Friday, pressured by a fall in Treasury yields after a tame U.S. inflation report that investors said kept the runway for the expected September Federal Reserve easing clear. The Commerce Department's June personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index nudged up 0.1%, as expected, after being unchanged in May, underscoring an improving inflation environment. Year over year, the PCE price index climbed 2.5% after rising 2.6% in May, also in line with forecasts by economists polled by Reuters.

  • Tesla’s Share Price Rebounded By 56%: Should Investors Jump In or Stay Clear?

    2024 has been a rollercoaster ride for Tesla. With its share prices rebounding 55.6% from its 52-week low, has Tesla broken free from its slump? The post Tesla’s Share Price Rebounded By 56%: Should Investors Jump In or Stay Clear? appeared first on The Smart Investor.

  • July 2024 Insights Into Three SGX Stocks Estimated To Be Undervalued

    As of July 2024, the Singapore stock market continues to navigate through a complex economic landscape, marked by cautious optimism among investors. This environment sets the stage for identifying potentially undervalued stocks that may offer attractive opportunities for those looking to diversify their portfolios in line with current market conditions.

  • The lower the AI exposure, the bigger the problem for Europe's chip firms

    Shares in European semiconductor firms less exposed to AI chips slumped on Thursday as falling demand from their key automotive and industrial clients hit business prospects, on top of a wider sector correction. Chip component suppliers like ASML and ASM International are more exposed to the booming AI chip market and demand from high-end tech clients like Nvidia, TSMC, and Intel. "The more high-end applications, linked to AI, those are doing much better," said ING analyst Marc Hesselink.

  • Bitcoin price falls amid broader stock market downturn

    The cryptocurrency has fallen as investors move away from riskier assets

  • Gold prices slide as safe haven plays favor yen; Copper losses deepen

    Investing.com-- Gold prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday, seeing little safe haven demand despite increasing risk-off sentiment as traders rode a sharp appreciation in the Japanese yen.

  • India cenbank may prefer mild rupee weakness to correct overvaluation, BofA says

    The Reserve Bank of India may allow the rupee to weaken slightly to unwind the slightly elevated real effective exchange rate and keep the South Asian currency "competitive," BofA Securities said in a note on Thursday. "It supports the government's ambitions for attracting large-scale manufacturing investments," the Wall Street firm said, adding it expects the rupee to decline to 84 to the U.S. dollar by the end of the year. The rupee was quoting at 83.7075 as of 10:54 a.m. IST, holding near the all-time low of 83.72 hit on Wednesday.

  • Stellantis ready to axe brands and fix US problems, CEO says

    Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future.