Cineworld files for Chapter 11 for bankruptcy protection in the US

Cineworld is the second largest movie theater chain in the world, but in recent years, it has been struggling to stay afloat. The company incurred massive debt, and now it has filed for bankruptcy.

According to Reuters, the British entertainment conglomerate based in London filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday, Sept. 7, in the United States as it continues to struggle with its debt. With the filing, the Cineworld Group will have a chance to stay in business while working on resolving the debt issues at the same time.

Under the bankruptcy protection, the company will undergo restructuring and get help on how to settle its dues. It was said that the Chapter 11 filing involves the entertainment company’s operations in the United Kingdom, the U.S., and Jersey. A huge part of Cineworld’s business is covered in the filing.

The company believes it will soon recover and emerge from the Chapter 11 protection within the first quarter of 2023. Cineworld said it is planning to pay all of its creditors in full during the restructuring process. It will also settle dues to employees and pay them their usual salaries.

Cineworld is expected to run its global business and theaters as usual while it settles its commitments from lenders and other vendors. Throughout the restructuring process, the company will continue to work and hopefully be able to resolve all the issues. CNN Business reported that the company revealed it has access to financing worth almost $2 billion from existing lenders, so it has funds to keep the business going.

In any case, Cineplex will also review all the details about Cineworld’s Chapter 11 filing and proceedings and see if it can advance with its claim against the latter. It can be recalled that Cineworld ditched its $2.1 billion takeover deal with Cineplex in June 2020. There is still conflict between the two sides due to confusion on which side pulled out of the contract.

"We have an incredible team across Cineworld laser-focused on evolving our business to thrive during the comeback of the cinema industry," Cineworld’s chief executive officer, Mooky Greidinger, said in a statement"The pandemic was an incredibly difficult time for our business, with the enforced closure of cinemas and a huge disruption to film schedules that has led us to this point."