Vue to acquire Italian cinema leader The Space

Multiplex cinema firm Vue Entertainment International has agreed to acquire The Space Entertainment, the leading cinema chain in Italy, with 36 state-of-the-art multiplex cinemas across the country.

The deal is the fourth acquisition in the past three years by Vue and is supported by follow-on investment from Vue’s financial shareholders, OMERS Private Equity and AIMCo.

During this period, Vue has more than doubled the number of cinemas and screens under its ownership from 70 to 187 cinemas and from 678 to 1,727 screens.

Vue acquired Apollo in the UK in May 2012, CinemaxX in Germany in August 2012, Multikino in Poland in October 2013 and expects to complete the Space deal in November.

Vue now has leading positions in three of the top four cinema markets in Europe, the UK, Germany and Italy, as well as Poland, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan.

Space is the number one cinema chain in Italy by market share and was formed by the merger of the Medusa Multicinema and Warner Village Cinema chains in 2009. 

The Space circuit consists of 36 multiplex cinemas with 362 screens and 79,126 seats, offering the very best movie-going experience to Italian filmgoers.

Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Vue said the acquisition “continues our strategic plan of supplementing our organic growth through opening new cinemas with strategic acquisitions of the highest quality assets in the UK and continental Europe.”