Showcase Cinemas may sell some theaters

posted by danpetitpas on November 13, 2008 at 10:53 am

National Amusements, which operates Showcase Cinemas, may have to sell some of its theaters because the company has to come up with an $800 million debt payment next month.

Owner Sumner Redstone is trying to restructure $1.6 billion in loans used to build new theaters. Last month he had to sell $233 million of stock in Viacom and CBS Corp. to meet debt payments.

Redstone has vowed not to sell anymore of his shares. He has said he is no longer bullish on the future of the cinema business.

This has put him in conflict with his daughter Shari who has run National Amusements for more than a decade. She has offered to swap her stake in National Amusements for ownership of Showcase Cinemas.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

Comments (3)

markp
markp on November 13, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Having worked for this company for many years, its sad to read this. I always thought they, along with General Cinema, were 2 of the best run companies in the industry. With that said, looks like the mighty empire is crumbling. Note to Sumner: Let Shari have it, maybe she can save it.

MPol
MPol on November 14, 2008 at 2:03 am

The Silver Screen Program that Showcase (Now National Amusements) shows are often quite wonderful.

Vito
Vito on November 14, 2008 at 7:56 am

I could be wrong but I think this will only happen over
Shari’s dead body.
Shari has stepped down from her position at Midway games to focus all of her attention on saving NA’s movie theatre division.
I agree with movie534 “let Sheri have it”

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