Canada’s movie theatre monarch has a new CEO, and could soon have a new owner.
What happened: Cineplex chose Bill Walker as its new CEO yesterday, immediately taking the place of Ellis Jacob, who was in charge for more than two decades. Walker’s first order of business: overseeing a strategic review that could lead to a sale of the company. Cineplex has secured the services of Goldman Sachs and TD Securities to conduct the review.
Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was considering a sale and was gauging the interest of foreign theatre chains Cinemark and Cineworld.
The latter actually agreed to buy Cineplex in 2019, but reneged due to the pandemic. Cineworld was ordered to pay $1.24 billion, but never did due to a bankruptcy filing.
Why it’s happening: It’s been a bang-up year for the movies, and Cineplex wants to sell high. Films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey have set box office records, while surprise smashes Obsession and Backrooms proved that Gen Z audiences are now key drivers of cinemagoing (and restored hopes that not every hit has to be IP-driven).
Why it matters: Cineplex runs the moviegoing game in Canada. Even with indie cinemas gaining some ground, it still controls about three-quarters of box office revenues in Canada. A de facto monopoly is bad enough; a monopoly in foreign hands sounds even worse.
Zoom out: Cineplex’s iron grip made national headlines last month after a Toronto theatre was forced to cancel screenings of Tony after the movie’s distributor cited a longstanding industry practice essentially giving Cineplex exclusive exhibition rights in a geographic area.—QH
