(Bloomberg) — Vue International, a privately held European movie theater chain, is working with financial advisers to evaluate options including a sale after receiving a takeover inquiry, according to people familiar with the matter.
CVC Capital Partners Plc and Elliott Management Corp. are among potential bidders interested in buying the chain, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
The talks are at an early stage and there’s no certainty a deal will be reached, the people said. Representatives for Vue and Elliott declined to comment. CVC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the acquisition goes through, Vue would become a vehicle for consolidation in the cinema industry, allowing the company to expand into new markets and cut overlapping costs, the people said. As of November last year, Vue operated 225 cinemas with more than 2,000 screens in the U.K., Italy, Poland and other parts of Europe, according to its annual report.
The pandemic closed theaters, and the world’s largest theater chains have been working to reduce costs since then. In July, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the world’s largest theater chain, restructured its debt, deferring some repayments from 2026 to 2029. Lenders to Regal parent Cineworld Group, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022, voted this week to move forward with the company’s proposed restructuring plan.
While global box office remains below the record set in 2019, before the pandemic, billion-dollar blockbusters including “Inside Out 2” from Walt Disney Co’s Pixar Studios and “Deadpool & Wolverine” from Disney’s Marvel Studios have seen revenue increase in recent months.
Vue has been controlled by its lenders since 2022. Barings LLC and Farallon Capital Management LLC took over the company in July of the same year as part of a debt restructuring.
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