Cineworld Agrees To Buy Regal Entertainment For $3.6 Bln - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Cineworld Group plc (CINE.L) on Tuesday announced that it has reached agreement on the terms of a recommended proposal to acquire Regal Entertainment Group (RGC), the second largest cinema chain in the United States.

The acquisition price of $23 per Regal share values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Regal at $3.6 billion or about 2.7 billion pounds, with an implied enterprise value of $5.8 billion or 4.3 billion pounds.

The acquisition is expected to create a globally diversified cinema operator across ten countries and allow Cineworld to access the attractive North American cinema market, which has the largest box office market in the world.

Following completion of the deal, Cineworld and Regal will have a combined 9,542 screens across the United States and Europe making it the second largest operator in the world by number of screens.

The acquisition is expected to be strongly accretive to earnings in the first full year following Completion in fiscal 2019.

The Cineworld Board expects to be able to maintain its existing dividend policy following Completion.

In late November, Cineworld had confirmed that it was in advanced discussions or a potential acquisition of Regal.

Mooky Greindinger, CEO of Cineworld, said, "We have long had high respect for Regal and for its strong position in the largest box office market in the world.... Regal is a great business and provides Cineworld with the optimal platform on which we can continue our growth strategy."