Cinema City buys Palace Cinemas chain

Cinema City International acquired Palace Cinemas’ chain, comprising 141 screens in 15 multiplexes in Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to Portfolio.hu.

The purchase price for the transaction was EUR 28 million, seeing Cinema City International becoming the third-largest cinema operator in Europe. Also, the company significantly strengthens its position in Hungarian and Czech markets and adds Slovakia to countries where it operates.

The deal brings the total number of CCI screens to 866 and the number of multiplexes to 90, up from 725 and 75, respectively.

Cinema City International is the largest multiplex cinema operator in Central & Eastern Europe and in Israel. CCI operates 90 multiplexes with 866 screens, in 7 countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Israel). There are 35 more multiplexes under development, which will add approximately 360 new screens. In addition, CCI is actively involved in cinema related advertising and in film distribution.

In 2010 CCI sold 30.5 million tickets in six countries, 11.1% more than in 2009. The CCI group employs over 4,000 people in 7 countries.