History
Cineworld was founded by Steve Wiener in 1995.[11][12] The first Cineworld cinema opened in Stevenage, Hertfordshire in July 1996.[13] A second cinema opened in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in December 1996 and the third opened in Feltham, London in July 1997.[14] In 2004, Cineworld was acquired by Blackstone private equity group for £120m.[11] The following year, Cineworld acquired the UK and Ireland operations of French cinema company UGC.[15]
In December 2012, Cineworld acquired the Picturehouse Cinema chain, adding 21 cinemas to its portfolio, including The Little Theatre in Bath, Brighton's Duke of York's cinema, the Cameo, Edinburgh, the Phoenix in Oxford and the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.[16]
The Blackstone Group, which had invested in Cineworld when it was privately owned, sold its entire remaining 20% shareholding in November 2010.[17] In August 2013, The Guardian revealed that Cineworld employs 80% of its 4,300 staff on zero hour contracts.[18] In October 2013, the Chester location was closed due to the landowner wanting to develop the land into a supermarket.[19]
In 2014, Cineworld's Picturehouse chain was subject to industrial action owing to its refusal to pay the London living wage to its staff. The workforce attracted the support of Eric Cantona.[20] On 27 February 2014, Cineworld completed the takeover of Cinema City International N.V.[21] As of March 2015, the Greidinger family (who owned a controlling 54% stake in Cinema City International) held a controlling bloc as the largest shareholder in the enlarged company.[22] In May 2014, Mooky Greidinger joined the board of directors as CEO, having previously been CEO of Cinema City International.[23]
In 2015, Picturehouse unveiled their new West End flagship site, ‘Picturehouse Central’,[24] a 1,000-seat seven-screen cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue near Piccadilly Circus in central London. In August 2016, Cineworld acquired six cinemas[25] from Empire Cinemas, including the Empire Theatre in London's West End, and 4 other locations in Basildon, Poole, Bromley and Hemel Hempstead. Empire Newcastle was also acquired by Cineworld the following year.[26]
In November 2017, Cineworld began merger talks with the US cinema chain Regal Cinemas.[27] On 5 December, it was officially announced that Cineworld would buy Regal for US$3.6 billion (£2.7 billion), creating the world's second-largest cinema group. It would also allow Cineworld access to the US market, the largest in the world.[28][29] The acquisition was completed in 2018.[6] In March 2019, Cineworld and Eagle Pictures invested in Spyglass Media Group.[30]
On 16 December 2019, Cineworld announced its proposed acquisition of Cineplex Entertainment—Canada's largest cinema chain—for approximately US$2.1 billion. Cineworld planned to integrate its operations with Regal to achieve cost and revenue synergies and maintain the Cineplex branding for the Canadian operations. This would have made it North America's largest cinema chain.[31] The deal was approved by shareholders in February 2020.[32] However, Cineworld would terminate the purchase agreement due to alleged "material adverse effect and breaches" by Cineplex. The company subsequently sued Cineworld over the aborted purchase.[33][34] In December 2021, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered Cineworld to pay damages of C$1.23 billion for pulling out of the acquisition of Cineplex. This decision caused the Cineworld share price to fall by nearly 30% overnight on the London Stock Exchange.[35] Cineworld said it would appeal the decision.
Closure during the COVID-19 pandemic
On 17 March 2020, Cineworld and all other cinema companies in the UK temporarily closed all their UK cinemas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36] Some 800 staff at Cineworld Group PLC wrote to chief executive Moshe Greidinger requesting their jobs back after many were made redundant "with immediate effect". Employees with over three years of service were told they would be retained with 40% of their salary or average pay. The letter said the move would leave many of the affected unable to afford essentials such as housing and food.[37][38] In late May 2020, Cineworld announced it planned to reopen all its UK cinemas in July.[39] On 14 August 2020, it announced a new reopening schedule, in which their Welsh cinemas would open on 14 August, whereas their Irish, Scottish and Jersey screens would open on 26 August. Their English cinemas had been open since 31 July.[40]
