Regal Owner Cineworld Takes Next Step Toward Exiting Bankruptcy

Etan Vlessing
·2 min read


Regal Entertainment owner Cineworld Group has named an administrator in the U.K. and had its shares delisted from the London Stock Exchange as the movie theater giant eyes an exit from U.S. bankruptcy protection.

On Monday, the cinema chain said Cineworld Group had entered administration under a U.K. court order and New York-based AlixPartners had been appointed as joint administrators of the company and its subsidiaries.

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“As previously announced by Cineworld, the restructuring of the group, which will be implemented by way of the administration process, will transform the group’s balance sheet and provide it with significant additional liquidity to fund its long-term strategy,” Cineworld said in a statement.

Across the Atlantic, Cineworld earlier announced that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division had confirmed a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, which calls for a new board led by former Pepsi and Pepsi Bottling top executive Eric Foss. The Chapter 11 filing followed Cineworld failing to find buyers for some or all of its exhibition assets.

The U.K.-based exhibitor — whose brands include Regal, Cinema City, Picturehouse and Planet — has maintained that it’s business as usual for the company as it looks to complete a proposed restructuring to reduce a towering debt load. “The group continues to honor the terms of all existing customer membership programs, including Regal Unlimited and Regal Crown Club in the United States and Cineworld Unlimited in the United Kingdom,” the exhibitor said in its statement on July 31.

The proposed restructuring, when completed, will restore Cineworld’s balance sheet by removing around $4.53 billion of debt, implementing a rights offering to raise around $800 million in new equity and offer $1.46 billion in new debt financing.

At the same time, shareholders have been wiped out as a new, incorporated company controlled by lenders is set to emerge and control Cineworld.

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