Cinema chain Cineworld is set to file for bankruptcy according to reports, blaming a failed quick recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The London-listed business has hired lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis and consultants from restructuring firm AlixPartners.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is expected to file a chapter 11 petition in the US and is considering insolvency proceedings in the UK.
The company operates 751 sites in 10 different countries including the Cineworld and Picturehouse cinema chains in the UK.
Cineworld’s market value more than halved this week after the company initiated talks with stakeholders. Before the pandemic, the cinema chain was valued as high as £4.4bn ($5bn/€5bn).
The business has debts totalling more than $4.8bn, partly caused by the pandemic and the failure to bounce back in terms of ticket sales once cinemas reopened. The chain also said that the lack of blockbuster films heading to the cinemas exacerbated things.
TheTicketingBusiness.com has reached out to Cineworld for comment.
Image: Rodhullandemu/ CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size