Cineplex has put itself up for sale while unveiling former Landmark Cinemas head Bill Walker as its new CEO, replacing a retiring Ellis Jacob.
“As part of the strategic review, the board will consider a range of alternatives, including, but not limited to, a potential sale of the company. The board has engaged Goldman Sachs and TD Securities as co-financial advisors in connection with the strategic review,” Cineplex, the Canadian exhibition giant, said in a statement via its board of directors.
Cineplex operates around 1,606 movie screens at 156 locations across Canada, and is a major launchpad for Hollywood tentpoles and other films screening north of the border. Putting up a for sale sign gets Cineplex back to where it was the last time Jacob sought an exit from the exhibition giant in 2019.
At that point, U.K. exhibition giant Cineworld Group unveiled a deal to acquire Cineplex for $2.1 billion to create a company with more than 11,200 movie screens globally. But a year later, as the pandemic took hold on the exhibition industry, Cineworld abandoned the movie theater deal to create one of the world’s largest cinema companies.
Cineplex was subsequently awarded damages of $1.236 billion in lost synergies from the abandoned takeover deal, but was unable to collect those funds after Cineworld went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the U.S.
That left Jacob and his executive team at Cineplex having to manage their balance sheet and greatly disrupted business in Canada during the pandemic. The latest attempt to possibly sell Cineplex comes amid better times for the Canadian exhibitor as it rides a Hollywood box office rebound.
Jacob, a Canadian exhibition industry pioneer, in mid-2025 announced he will stay on at the movie theater chain until the end of 2016 to assist a transition to new leadership. That includes Walker being named as the new CEO. Walker previously served as CEO of Landmark Cinemas, Canada’s second-largest theatre exhibitor, which operates as part of Kinepolis Group NV, a publicly traded cinema company based in Belgium.
Walker helped seal Landmark’s sale to Kinepolis in 2017, while continuing to run the company under Kinepolis’ public ownership. Jacob will become a special advisor to the Cineplex board as it looked to strategic alternatives to maximize returns to shareholders.
“Bill brings a unique combination of industry expertise, operational leadership, transaction experience and strategic perspective. Given his deep understanding of the theatrical exhibition industry and proven leadership experience, the board is confident that Bill is exceptionally well positioned to lead Cineplex. At the same time, the board believes it is appropriate to conduct a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives available to the company,” Cineplex board chair Phyllis Yaffe said in a statement.
Cineplex added no timetable for its strategic review process has been set as the company added “there can be no assurance” that a transaction will follow as the company continues to operate as usual.
“Having spent much of my career in the exhibition industry, I have great respect for what the Cineplex team has built. I believe the company possesses an exceptional platform for growth, a powerful brand and meaningful opportunities to create value. I fully support the Board’s commitment to evaluating strategic alternatives and look forward to working closely with the board, management team and other stakeholders as the strategic review progresses,” Walker added in his own statement.
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