Vue sets sights on Cineworld ahead of possible float - report
Britain’s third-biggest cinema chain, Vue International, is reportedly ready to swoop on rival Vue ahead of a possible stock market flotation.
Vue founder Tim Richards confirmed to The Times that the company was ready to take advantage of any opportunities that presented themselves as speculation mounts that Cineworld could be broken up.
"We’ve done 14 deals in the last 20 years," Richards said. "[Mergers and acquisitions] is a part of the business we’re very good at. There are going to be opportunities for M&A activity of all sizes and scale in the next 18 months."
Vue, which trails behind Odeon and Cineworld, has 91 venues across the UK and Ireland with 870 screens. Overall, it has 227 sites in nine countries with 10,000 employees.
Just a few months ago, Vue went through a £1bn restructuring that wiped out both its Canadian backers, Omers and Alberta Investment Management Corporation, and management’s 26% equity stake.
Omers and Alberta ceded control of the cinema chain to its lenders under a debt-for-equity swap that converted £465m of debt into equity and gave the company an additional £75m of liquidity to recapitalise it.
The Times said that Richards acknowledged 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 has 9,139 screens at 747 sites across ten countries, including the Regal chain in America, which it bought in 2018 for $5.8bn. It went on to launch a recommended CAD2.8bn takeover of Canada’s Cineplex, but pulled out after the pandemic hit. Cineplex sued Cineworld, winning CAD1.23bn in damage.
One industry insider said: "The competition issues would not be insurmountable. It would absolutely be a doable deal."