Regal Owner Cineworld Says Its Been Approached By Multiple Buyers During Bankruptcy

Cineworld which currently just filed for Chapter 11 protection, has told a virtual status conference that they plan to move towards a court directed settlement of the bankruptcy process. On Wednesday, Joshua Sussberg, a lawyer for Cineworld, owner of the Regal Entertainment Group stated, “We of course do not have commitments for the financing or the equity. We have agreement on the terms. But suffice it to say, we’re going to proceed in earnest and negotiate this underlying plan.”

An ad hoc consortium of legacy lenders for Cineworld gave roughly $2 Billion in debtor-in-possession financing for the bankruptcy process, with the lenders working with the chain on a possible debt for equity exchange, that must get approved by a Texas court. Michael Messersmith of Arnold & Porter Kaye, told the court that a lot of progress has been made in the negotiations with Cineworld. He also stated that legacy lenders, had around 35 percent equity funds, sustained losses as they had to rescue Cineworld.

He told the court that, “That requires us again to insert additional funds, and that requires diligence on the company, and on the relationships they have with the industry and basically all the diligence that would go into a typical M&A transaction.”

Sussberg added, “This management team is committed to helping transition in any circumstance, whether it’s a third party sale or a lender led restructuring and we will negotiate and present to your honor the details of that plan.”

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