Private Equity News & Analysis

Madison Dearborn to buy theatres for $1.5bn

The Chicago buyout firm has agreed to buy Cinemark, which owns more than 3,000 screens across North, Central and South America. The Cypress Group exits.

By
PEI Staff
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The Chicago buyout firm has agreed to buy Cinemark, which owns more than 3,000 screens across North, Central and South America. The Cypress Group exits.

Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners has agreed to purchase theatre chain Cinemark in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion (€1.22 billion).

 

The deal reportedly includes $1 billion in cash and $560 million in assumed debt.

 

The company’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Lee Roy Mitchell, will continue to run Cinemark. New York private equity firm, The Cypress Group, a minority shareholder, will exit its investment.

 

Cinemark has 3,142 screens in 33 US states and throughout Central and South America.

 

Separately, another major theatre chained owned by private equity investors – Loews Cineplex Entertainment – has announced it will begin searching for buyers. Loews is owned by Toronto-based Onex and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management.