Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger has been fined and handed a six-month suspended prison sentence by an Israeli court.
Greidinger, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for Cineworld in September, was found to be indirectly responsible for failing to prevent the breach of terms of a merger agreement dating back to 2010.
According to the Israeli Anti‐Trust Authority, Cineworld’s Israeli distribution subsidiary, Forum Film, failed to provide eight movies to a single cinema in Tel Aviv after the merger agreement. It is understood the merger agreement refers to the 2010 merger of Forum Film and another Israeli outfit, Matalon.
The Israeli court fined Forum Film £150,000 while Greidinger was personally fined about £23,000.
The prison sentence, which was suspended as part of a plea bargain, was imposed after Greidinger admitted violating the terms of a merger by refusing to distribute eight children’s films to Tel Aviv-based Lev Cinema, a rival of his Rav Hen chain.
The six-month suspended prison sentence is conditional on Greidinger having no further anti‐trust offences in the next 24 months.
In a statement, Cineworld said that the judgment is not expected to have any impact on the continued operations of Forum Film, Cineworld Group or Greidinger’s position as CEO of Cineworld.
The judgement adds to the challenges facing Greidinger and Cineworld, which is grappling with the fallout of the pandemic.
The company loaded up on debt to fund the acquisition of cinema chains such as the US’s Regal Cinemas and the UK’s Picturehouse, helping it to amass more than 9,000 screens in 10 countries. Its debts were reported at $5.2bn on June 30, 2022, not counting lease liabilities.
However, the company’s finances were devastated by Covid, which closed theatres, delayed major film releases and accelerated the shift to streaming. Revenues fell from $4.4bn in 2019 to $1.8bn in 2021, while group adjusted Ebitda fell from $1bn to $455m.
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