Cineworld Group Plc may strike a new in-theater advertising deal with a company other than existing partner National CineMedia Inc. in the very near future, according to a lawyer for the bankrupt cinema operator.
(Bloomberg) — Cineworld Group Plc may strike a new in-theater advertising deal with a company other than existing partner National CineMedia Inc. in the very near future, according to a lawyer for the bankrupt cinema operator.
The company is in talks with multiple theater advertisers on a deal and National CineMedia’s current offer isn’t the best on the table, Josh Sussberg, Cineworld’s bankruptcy lawyer, said in a hearing Wednesday. A new deal could immediately save Cineworld $50 million, he said.
“The time has come to move forward with a new arrangement,” Sussberg said. “We are going to do just that in the immediate near term.”
The move would be a major blow to National CineMedia, which counts Cineworld subsidiary Regal Cinemas as one of its three core customers. National CineMedia may fight the termination by arguing that Cineworld is barred from picking a different advertising partner under the terms of the existing deal, a lawyer for the company said.
Sale Process
Cineworld has also embarked on a sale process and continues to talk with a key lender group about bankruptcy exit plans, Sussberg said. The theater operator’s restructuring, which began in September, will begin moving much more quickly in the coming weeks, he said.
The lender group, which holds some $6 billion of Cineworld debt, signed confidentiality agreements in recent weeks in order to more thoroughly diligence the company, a lawyer for the group said in the hearing. No final decision has been made on whether lenders will take over the company or if it will be sold to a third party, but a decision must come soon, he said.
“The pace of play going forward will be much more quick,” the lawyer, Michael Messersmith of Arnold & Porter, said. “This company cannot stay in bankruptcy for much longer.”
The bankruptcy is Cineworld Group plc and Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, 22-90168, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston)
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