Cineworld will this week unveil a sweeping overhaul that will cost hundreds of jobs and reduce its UK presence by at least a quarter.
Sky News has learned that the cinema operator will on Friday publish details of a restructuring plan that will see it close around 25 sites across the UK.
City sources said around half a dozen Cineworld cinemas would begin an immediate closure process and close their doors for the final time at the end of the summer.
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The exact number of job losses was unclear Thursday, although one source said it would be “at least in the hundreds.”
Cineworld’s public relations consultants at Hill & Knowlton did not respond to questions.
The company has been in preliminary talks with some of Britain’s biggest commercial landlords, including Landsec and Legal & General, about its restructuring plans.
A majority of creditors will have to approve the cinema operator’s proposals to close around 25 sites, with rent reductions being sought at a further 50.
Approximately 25 theaters will not be affected if the plan is approved.
Several owners are said to be considering opposing the proposals, although it is unclear whether this would be enough to block the restructuring plan.
Cineworld initially held talks about selling the business with potential buyers, but has now shifted its focus to a formal restructuring process.
The company is being advised by AlixPartners.
Other cinema operators are expected to step in to take over some of the Cineworld sites.
The company trades from more than 100 locations in Britain, including the Picturehouse chain, and employs thousands of people, although its public relations consultant declined to confirm any of the figures.
Cineworld grew under the leadership of the Greidinger family and became a global industry giant, acquiring chains such as Regal in the US in 2018 and the British company of the same name four years earlier.
However, its mountain of multibillion-dollar debt led it into crisis and forced the company to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022.
It left the London Stock Exchange last August, after seeing its share price fall due to fears for its survival.
Under the deal reached last year, several billion dollars of debt was swapped for equity, with a significant sum of new money injected into the company by a group of hedge funds and other investors.
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Cineworld also operates in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel and the USA.
Since emerging from bankruptcy protection, Cineworld has appointed a new leadership team, naming Eduardo Acuna, who ran the operations of Mexican cinema chain Cinepolis in the Americas, as its chief executive.
Major summer film releases in Britain include Despicable Me 4, A Quiet Place: Part One and Alien: Romulus.
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