RE: Times article2 Dec 2022 10:33
At the time the biggest lenders, according to data from Bloomberg, were Barings, Invesco, Dryden Leveraged Loan CDO and Carlyle.
Richards, 63, acknowledged that the lenders would not be long-term holders of the equity, although when asked if he would need to find fresh shareholders to back his ambitions, he replied: “No. We can participate.”
On the prospect of a stock market listing for Vue, he said: “I think because of our size and scale, our next exit would likely be a flotation. And that would probably be in a couple of years.”
Cineworld’s woes, caused by a mixture of the pandemic and a debt-fuelled acquisition spree, have prompted suggestions that the world’s second biggest cinema operator could be split up and sold off next year, one scenario being a break-up by country.
Cineworld, which started life in 1995, has 9,139 screens at 747 sites across ten countries, including the Regal chain in America, which it acquired for $5.8 billion in 2018. It went on to launch a recommended C$2.8 billion takeover of Toronto-based Cineplex, only to pull out after the pandemic hit. Cineplex sued its British suitor, winning a damages award of C$1.23 billion.
One industry insider said: “The competition issues would not be insurmountable. It would absolutely be a doable deal.”
In America, Cineworld is seeking to push through a significant reduction in its debt under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process.
Although unwilling to comment on Cineworld from a consolidation standpoint, Richards defended his rival against accusations that its actions were damaging the wider sector. “When you have to close your business for 18 months and have restrictions for another six months, there’s no company in the world, whether aggressively or conservatively leveraged, that could survive that.”
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