(Bloomberg) — Vue International, the closely held European cinema chain, is working with financial advisers to evaluate options including a sale after receiving takeover inquiries, according to people familiar with the matter.
CVC Capital Partners Plc and Elliott Management Corp. are among the potential bidders that have expressed interest in acquiring the chain, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information.
The deliberations are at an early stage and there is no certainty of a deal, the people said. Representatives for Vue and Elliott declined to comment. CVC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
If purchased, Vue could become a vehicle for consolidation in the theater industry, allowing the company to expand into new markets and cut overlapping costs, the people said. As of last November, Vue operated 225 theaters with more than 2,000 screens in the UK, Italy, Poland and elsewhere in Europe, according to its annual report.
The world’s largest cinema chains have been working to reduce costs in the wake of the pandemic, which closed theaters, and a halting rebound since then. In July, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the world’s largest chain, restructured its debt, pushing out some payments to 2029 from 2026. Lenders to Regal owner Cineworld Group, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022, voted this week to advance the company’s proposed restructuring plan.
Although the global box office is still below the record set in 2019 — before the pandemic — billion-dollar blockbusters including Inside Out 2 from Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar subsidiary and Deadpool & Wolverine from Disney’s Marvel Studios have boosted revenue in recent months.
Vue has been controlled by its lenders since 2022. Barings LLC and Farallon Capital Management LLC took over the company in July of that year as part of a debt restructuring.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
