Cineworld denies Odeon talks
January 3, 2023
Cinema chain Cineworld, which reported severe financial difficulties in 2022, has denied it is looking to sell some of its cinemas to the owner of Odeon, one of its key rivals. Cineworld did, however, confirm it would listen to parties interested in purchasing the entire business.
The rumours arose following reports in December 2022 that Cineworld had also been in talks to offload some of its cinemas in the US and Europe to AMC Entertainment.
“Cineworld would like to clarify that neither it nor its advisers have participated in discussions with AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc regarding the sale of any of its cinema assets,” the company said in a statement. It also denied that any of its lenders were in talks with the Odeon owner.
Cineworld is the second-largest cinema chain in the world, but has failed to recover significantly from the pandemic-enforced lockdowns which saw most of its 751 sites close for extended periods of time, whilst the rise of movie premieres on streaming services has also undoubtedly played a major role in hitting cinema attendances. The business reported a $708 million (€670.6m) loss in 2022, and the accumulation of $4.8 billion in debts.