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Bankrupt German Exhibitor’s 173 Screens Loews & Kieft Team To Buy 28 Ufa Sites TORONTO – Loews Cineplex’s Toronto-based parent company, Onex Corp., announced May 9 that Loews is partnering with German exhib Kieft & Kieft Filmtheatre (KKF) to acquire 173 screens at 28 sites from the bankrupt Ufa chain. The acquisitions will be 50-50 owned by Loews and KKF, according to The Hollywood Reporter. On its own, KKF announced in February its decision to purchase 32 of Ufa’s 37 sites (In Focus, May 2003). New York-based Loews currently operates 3,025 screens at 312 sites. South Korean Exhib Spreads Good Fellas Eyes Vietnam For 9 Screens DA NANG, Vietnam – South Korean-based exhib Good Fellas is slated to unveil at least nine screens at two sites in Vietnam by the end of the year, according to the trade paper Screen Daily. The new facilities will serve as components of the exhibitor’s joint-venture chain, Diamond Cinema (DMC). A 500-seat triplex was slated to open in May in the central city of Da Nang, Vietnam. A 1,000-seat 6-plex was set to bow November in the nation’s second largest city of Hanoi. The circuit currently operates a 3-plex in Ho Chi Minh City. Good Fellas also announced it will soon unveil a 7-plex in the southern city of Pusan, South Korea, bringing the circuit’s national site total to six. Cinema Expo Honor Odeon CEO Named Exhib Of The Year AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Richard Segal, CEO of the London-based Odeon cinema chain, was honored June 26 as Cinema Expo’s exhibitor of the year. The 2003 confab was held June 23-26 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The United Kingdom’s largest cinema chain with 608 screens at 97 sites, Odeon was purchased by a consortium of investors on March 7 (In Focus, May, 2003). Segal is an original member of the U.K. Film Policy Review Group as well as an executive board member of the Cinema Exhibitors Association. He holds membership in the Film Skills Action Group and serves as a director of the Business in Sport & Leisure lobbying group. Past Cinema Expo exhibitor of the year honorees include Europalaces’ Eduardo Malone, Cine-UK’s Steve Wiener, UGC’s Guy Verrecchia and Kinepolis’ Albert Bert   .

South Korean Expansion Primus Plans 212 Screens By 2005 SEOUL, South Korea – Primus Cinema has announced plans to launch 212 screens at 27 sites throughout Korea by the end of 2005. The South Korean circuit, which currently operates 32 screens at five sites, plans to expand beyond the capital city of Seoul, which currently rakes in around 40 percent of the nation’s box office. The circuit is looking to build in cities with populations of more than 300,000 people. New facilities will feature the company’s newly purchased local coffee chain, Holly’s. Primus plans to operate 154 screens at 21 sites by the close of next year. Vivendi Cuts Assets Bidders Vie For 850 UGC Circuit Screens PARIS – Vivendi Universal in early May received bids from two private equity groups interested in purchasing Vivendi’s 58 percent holding in French circuit UGC, according to Variety. On May 7, the two remaining bidders were LBO France and CDX Ixis. However, as a result of a shareholder pact, UGC owner Guy Verrachia still holds the power to block any sale of the stakes. If the purchase goes through, the buyer would gain 850 screens in six countries as well as a 50-percent stake in France’s leading distributor, UFD.   Bollywood On Big Screen India Slated For Three Imax Sites HYDRABAD, India – Toronto-based Imax Corp. announced April 29 it has signed an agreement with Aerens Developers & Engineers to construct three state-of-the-art Imax sites in India. All are expected to be up and running by 2006. Two Imax facilities – the Adlabs Imax Theatre in Mumbai and the Gujarat Science City Imax 3-D Theatre in Ahmedabad – already grace India, with a third site – the Prasad Imax Theatre in Hydrabad – slated at press time for a June launch. “India, with its long history of moviegoing culture, is an ideal market for Imax theatres,” noted circuit co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. India ranks second behind China as the fastest-growing Imax market.