Vue plans debt-for-equity swap after Hollywood strikes delay blockbuster films
Europe’s largest independent cinema operator is preparing to restructure its debt after the Hollywood actor’s strike pushed back the release of a number of movies.
A spokesperson for Vue International told City PM that “the unforeseen and unprecedented” six months has had a “short and medium-term impact on the industry.”
“We are in discussions with our shareholders and lenders to ensure the business has the right capital structure to thrive and maximise exciting opportunities ahead, once the pipeline of new content improves later this year and in 2025,” the spokesperson said.
Sky News first reported that UK-based Vue, with its shareholders and lenders, was in the process of organising what would be the company’s second debt-for-equity swap in the last year and a half.
Alongside the millions worth of existing debt converted into equity, some £50m of new capital will be pumped into the company. One source told Sky News the latest restructuring underlined its stakeholders’ confidence in Vue’s long-term prospects ahead of the releases of Gladiator 2 and the third instalment of Deadpool.
Vue, an employer of over 8,000 people in around 225 countries, completed a seperate restructuring last year, which cleared £470m in debt and saw the company taken over by its lenders.
The operator is currently looking for a replacement for former chair Stella David, who departed to become gambling giant Entain’s interim CEO last year.
Strikes from actors and scriptwriters brought the centre of the global film industry to a grinding halt throughout much of 2023. The protests began in May over fair pay and job protection from AI technology.
A number of blockbuster titles were delayed as a result, including Dune: Part 2, Avengers: the Kang Dynasty, Fantastic Four and the third film in James Cameron’s Avatar series.