Cineplex Inc.,
Canada’s largest movie theatre chain, is shopping itself to potential buyers in a bid to combine with a rival.
Chief executive Ellis Jacob has reached out to peers including Regal Cineworld Group and Cinemark Holdings Inc. to gauge their interest in a takeover, according to people familiar with the matter. Any discussions are at an early stage and may not result in a deal, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information is private.
Representatives for Cineplex, Cineworld and Cinemark declined to comment.
Shares of Cineplex were up four per cent to $11.72 just after 10 a.m. Toronto time, taking its market value to around $740 million.
Cineplex, which accounts for most of Canada’s movie theatre business, has a market value of $711 million. It has for decades been run by Jacob, who is set to step down as chief executive in December. Cinema operators the world over have faced challenges as streaming services such as
Netflix Inc.
gain popularity, keeping consumers away from theatres.
Cineworld agreed to acquire Cineplex for US$2.1 billion in 2019, only for the deal to fall through. Cineworld, then controlled by the Greidinger family, backed out of the transaction and filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after suffering severe losses during the pandemic.
The company emerged from bankruptcy a year later and is now run by chief executive Eduardo Acuna, who’s investing more than US$250 million in modernizing Regal’s cinemas in the United States Last year, Cineworld began working with the investment banking units of
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and Barclays PLC to explore merger opportunities or an
initial public offering.
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In 2023, Kinepolis Group NV, one of the largest theatre operators in Europe and the owner of Landmark Cinemas in Canada, considered making a bid for Cineplex but chose not to proceed after concluding a deal would struggle to win regulatory approval.
Bloomberg.com