04-10-2013

Polish ITI Group Sells Multikino Chain to UK Company

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    WARSAW: Multikino, one of the biggest Polish cinema chains, has been sold to Vue-Entertainment for 48 m EUR. It is Vue-Entertainment’s first venture in CEE.

    Vue-Entertainment purchased 86% of Multikino's shares from ITI Group and 14% of the shares from Ares Management. The transaction, which was initially announced in May 2013, took place on 2 October 2013 after it was approved by the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

    Multikino holdings include 28 cinemas with 231 screens in 22 Polish cities and 2 cinemas with 15 screens in Riga and Vilnus. The company's income in 2011 was 77.33 m EUR with the EBITDA margin of 12.4 m EUR.

    Wojciech Kostrzewa, President and CEO of the ITI Group told FNE: "Since its inception back in 1998 Multikino has been promoting the highest standards in cinema operations and management, establishing itself as the most innovative network in Poland, a position that is equally reflected in its fair equity value of 48 m EUR. We are proud that with Vue a leading industry partner acquires Multikino, who we know will continue to support and develop Multikino’s high standards and further build out its leading position in the Polish market.”

    Although Polish media speculated that two other major players, Cinema City and Agora, were serious contenders, it appeared that neither was in the running to purchase Multikino. Cinema City purchased Palace Cinema properties in Poland in 2011, and Agora stated that they were not planning to compete. Vue-Entertainment was established in 2003 and operates 146 cinemas with over 1321 screens in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, German, Taiwan and Denmark.