Everyman in £20m cinema buyout splurge with London screens in Gerrards Cross, Esher, Muswell Hill and Barnet
Everyman Media Group raised £20m in a share placing yesterday, announcing it had successfully tapped up investors for funds to buy more cinemas.
The group, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), is buying four cinemas across London, with a total of 14 screens.
As a result, the group will increase the number of its cinemas from 11 to 15 and its number of screens from 21 to 35.
The group will increase the number of its cinemas from 11 to 15
Everyman plans to spend £7.1m buying the cinemas in Gerrards Cross, Esher, Muswell Hill and Barnet, then £6.1m refurbishing them. It also expects to open a new cinema in Canary Wharf in May this year.
The 23.5m shares issued for the placement were sold at 85p each, and represent 39 per cent of the enlarged total capital of the firm.
The Screen on the Green in Islington
It raised £20m, resulting in a net gain of £19.3m after costs. The shares are expected to start trading on 11 May.
Four directors increased their shareholdings as part of the fundraising round, while Blue Coast Private Equity also bought 4.3m new shares, taking its stake to 9.3 per cent.
The shares were placed by Everyman’s nominated broker on Aim, Cenkos.
Everyman expects to open a new cinema in Canary Wharf in May next year
BEHIND THE DEAL: ANDREW BLAIN – CENKOS
1 Blain works on Cenkos’ growth companies team, raising funds for rapid expansions like Everyman’s deal. He helped the firm raise funds from existing and new institutions.
2 He has worked on a long series of successful deals over the past year, including Finsbury Foods’ £56m Fletchers acquisition, raising £35m; XLMedia’s float, raising £42m; and Restore, raising £15m.
3 Cenkos has had a couple of boom years, landing some mega-deals – this year it managed to get the £1.2bn float of British Car Auctions away, despite bigger rivals failing to sell the stock last year. And in 2014 it gave all staff £40,000 after the successful AA float.
Also advising…
Cenkos’ team on the deal included nominated brokers Bobbie Hilliam and Harry Pardoe, and sales team Oliver Baxendale and Jeremy Warner Allen, who were all listed on Everyman Media Group’s market announcement.