Cineworld seeking buyer for all assets, denies breakup report

(Sharecast News) - Movie house owner Cineworld, which is in US bankruptcy protection, said it was looking for prospective buyers for the group's assets as a whole, and not separately as some media reports suggested on Tuesday morning.

US-based rival AMC last month said it had held discussions with some of Cineworld's lenders to buy some of its cinemas in the US and Europe. However, on Tuesday Cineworld said that neither it nor its advisers had been party to those discussions.

"Cineworld has not initiated and does not intend to initiate a separate marketing process for the sale of any of its assets on an individual basis. Furthermore, any sale transaction for the group as a whole would not include the sale of Cineworld itself and would therefore not be subject to the rules of the Takeover Code," the company said in a statement.

The company added that "neither the ad hoc group of lenders under the group's 2018 credit facility nor its advisers were party to discussions with AMC".

It also warned that any restructuring or sale transaction agreed with stakeholders "will result in a very significant dilution of existing equity interests in Cineworld and there is no guarantee of any recovery for holders of Cineworld's existing equity interests".

Cineworld is labouring under a massive $5bn debt pile, which it took on to partly fund the acquisition of Regal Cinemas in the US in 2017. The group filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US in September.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com