Cineworld moves overseas with Spanish acquisition

7th Apr 2011 13:32

Cineworld is acquiring a Spanish cinema operator in its first move overseas.It is buying Cinesur, the largest operator in Spain's Andalucia region, with 11 multiplexes. Gross assets worth €18.6m (£16.3m) are being acquired, Cineworld said.Spain's cinema market turned over €800m in 2009, according to Cineworld."We are delighted to be making our first continental acquisition, taking us into a market which we believe has good growth prospects," said Cineworld chief executive Stephen Wiener. "Cinesur is an attractive platform for growing market share in a country that is serviced by many smaller cinema operators." The broker Peel Hunt commented: "The Spanish cinema market is more fragmented than the UK and digital penetration is much lower. Cineworld's management has experience both of integration and European cinema operations."