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In full swing in the German film landscape: the Cinestar group, headquartered in Lübeck, will be sold to the British film operator Vue International. While the first reports on the sale were already circulating on the internet on Monday morning, employees were informed of developments at the Cieestar in Lübeck.
When they left the mill bridge building around noon, many faces were marked by perplexity. "We have not learned much, only that a sale is in conversation, we do not know how the jobs will be maintained," says an employee who wants to remain anonymous. The deal of a million is apparently in the bag. Only the approval of the Federal Cartel Office is pending. Cinestar CEO Oliver Fock confirms the sale. "Until the decision of antitrust authorities, six to twelve months will run out, provided everything stays the same.After that, no one knows how things will go on."
2700 employees
The CineStar group currently has 55 cinemas with 449 screens. Two other centers are scheduled to open in late 2018 and mid-2019 in Remscheid and Freising. The Cinestar Group employs 2,700 people in Germany, including around 100 in Lübeck. The group was founded as a private company by Hilma and Albert Kieft in 1948 and operated until 2004 under the name of "Kieft & Kieft Filmtheater".
130 million euros
The Australian Entertainment, Event and Leisure Company Event Hospitality & Entertainment Limited (EVT) sold the group to the UK company, which also operates cinemaxx cinemas. Vue International acquires the Cinestar group for an advance payment of 130 million euros. There is also a variable amount of up to 91.8 million euros. It should be based on the number of visitors in the coming year.
The history of Lübeck
Cinestar, headquartered in Lübeck, has been part of the group since 2004. Previously, brothers Marlis and Heiner Kieft had directed the cinema on the mill bridge. Under the Cinestar and Ufa brands, they operated 94 cinemas in 611 cinemas and around 145,000 cinemas in Germany. But the decrease in the number of visitors eventually made the sale to the Australian group necessary. Since 1998, Australians have held a 50% stake in Kieft & Kieft through their Greater Union subsidiary.
Oliver Fock builds on the know-how
Oliver Fock is optimistic for the future: "We are convinced that Vue, as one of the leading cinema operators in Europe and worldwide, has the necessary know-how to take advantage of success of Cinestar. " Timothy Richards, founder of Vue International, waiting for new tasks. "Germany is a very important market for cinema and is one of the world's top ten box office markets, and the acquisition is part of our commercial strategy to develop and own high quality cinemas. invest in each property and warmly welcome Cinestar into the Vue Group. "
Attractive price
This year, Vue had already taken over the Polish group Cinema3D and the Irish Showtime Cinemas. Overall, the Vue Group has grown since its creation 15 years ago with 14 acquisitions, including Cinemaxx in Germany and Denmark. According to a press release, the acquisition of 57 film centers constitutes "a proof of the group's confidence in the European market and the future of the sector of international theaters".
Strategic considerations
On the other hand, for EVT, the sale of Cinestar was the result of a strategic badessment of the activities, which had shown that the interactions between the Cinestar and EVT cinematographic activities in Australia and New Zealand could not be obtained. Jane Hastings, CEO of EVT, commented: "The sale of Cinestar adds value to our shareholders.The price is attractive, especially since there is still room for improvement, the number of visitors in the German film market is expected to increase again. "
By Maike Wegner / RND
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