As part of Cineworld’s aim to cut employment and save money in light of the company’s continued struggle with debt, it has been disclosed that six cinemas will be closed down. This decision was made in light of the previous statement.
It is anticipated that the theaters will shut their doors “late September 2024” if the measures to save costs are granted the legal right to do so.
The phrase “commercially unviable” was used to describe them in a statement that was made public on Saturday.
According to the statement released today, “Against a background of increasingly high and unsustainable operating costs, the business is set to implement a restructuring plan that will enable it to address its lease portfolio and rental terms with landlords in the UK.”
Furthermore, the chain has voiced its anticipation that it will “return our business to profitability” and additionally “ensure a sustainable long-term future for Cineworld in the UK.”
The employees at theaters that are scheduled to close will be “offered redeployment at nearby sites” to the maximum extent possible. Additionally, the chain will offer redeployment opportunities at theaters that have been handed over to competitors after the chain has abandoned them.
The statement that “the total number of impacted sites cannot be confirmed until the process is complete” was included in the official notice.
The business stressed that “a restructuring plan is not bankruptcy but a legal process,” which will allow it to achieve efficiency in order to become profitable once more without having to declare bankruptcy. This will allow the company to eliminate the need to declare bankruptcy.
The country’s theaters remain untouched by the situation outside of the United Kingdom.
As a consequence of the accumulation of billions of dollars in debt, protection from bankruptcy was granted.
Cineworld currently operates more than one hundred sites in the United Kingdom, including those that are part of the Picturehouse network. This is despite the fact that the company’s public relations counsel has denied acknowledging any of the two numbers. Further, the corporation is responsible for the employment of thousands of individuals.
During the time that the Greidinger family was in charge of the company, it grew into a multinational conglomerate that dominates the competition. During the year 2018, it purchased franchises such as Regal in the United States. Prior to that, it had acquired the British company with the same name four years earlier.
As a consequence of the mountain of debt that the corporation was obligated to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in 2022, the amount of debt that the corporation owed amounted to many billions of dollars.
The share price has dropped in response to concerns surrounding the continued viability of the company, which resulted in the delisting of the corporation from the London Stock Exchange in August of the previous year.
In addition, as part of the agreement that was struck the year before, a cluster of hedge funds and other investors contributed a sizeable sum of fresh capital to the company. This was done in accordance with the terms of the agreement. According to the terms of the agreement, several billion dollars’ worth of debt was traded in exchange for shares.
As soon as it emerged from the protection of bankruptcy, it began the process of recruiting a new leadership team, which ultimately resulted in Eduardo Acuna being appointed as the company’s chief executive officer. When Acuna was in charge of overseeing the operations of the Mexican theater chain Cinepolis in the Americas, he was responsible for managing those activities.