UK competition watchdog orders Cineworld cinema sale

8th Oct 2013 07:16

Regulators are to force cinema operator Cineworld to sell cinemas in three UK towns and cities over monopoly concerns about its deal to buy City Screen.The Competition Commission said Cineworld will have to off-load cinemas in each of Aberdeen, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge because the acquisition of City Screen, which runs the Picturehouse chain, could mean higher prices for customers in those areas.Cineworld, which runs 78 cinemas in the UK, bought City Screen, which owns 21 cinemas mostly under the Picturehouse brand, last December. While Cineworld mainly has large out-of-town cinemas, Picturehouse's cinemas tend to be small cinemas in city centres.The ruling confirms the commission's provisional findings published in August.Alasdair Smith, CC Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Cineworld/City Screen merger inquiry group, said Picturehouse and Cineworld were in direct competition with each other and there was a considerable overlap between audiences and screenings at the two cinema groups."The sale of one of the cinemas in Aberdeen, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge to a competing cinema operator will restore competition in these areas and protect customers' interests," he said.PW