Cinépolis has announced the acquisition of Moviehouse & Eatery, a Texas-based chain with several locations in the North Texas area.
Moviehouse & Eatery is an upscale dine-in movie theatre circuit in Texas with 5 operating locations and one under construction. It has locations in Keller, McKinney and Flower Mound in North Texas. As of the completion of the transaction, Cinépolis operates 258 screens at 26 locations in 7 states in the United States, including in Euless.
Cinépolis currently operates 5,941 screens across 738 cinemas, with presence in 17 countries, entertaining over 338 million patrons annually.
Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, Chief Executive Officer of Cinépolis said, “We are fully committed to bring our global expertise to the U.S. market. This is a strategic transaction that will help us to expand and strengthen our best-in-class luxury offer in this market and around the world.”
Moviehouse & Eatery co-founder Leslie Sloan said, “Cinépolis shares the same high standards that we maintain at Moviehouse & Eatery and it is the perfect company to take Moviehouse to the next level. We are excited that Cinépolis will expand the Moviehouse experience to people all across the country.” Moviehouse & Eatery co-founder Rodney Speaks added, “Cinépolis provides our Moviehouse & Eatery employees the opportunity to grow with a global exhibitor.” Speaks and Sloan, originally real estate developers before venturing into the dine-in theater business, intend to continue working with Cinépolis to develop new theater sites in the United States.
Since the opening of its first theatre in 2012, Moviehouse & Eatery has quickly become one of the leading upscale dine-in theatre operators in Texas with 5 theatres and 47 screens in the Austin and Dallas metropolitan areas, appealing to an affluent, family-oriented demographic. Each location offers scratch-made food and plush recliner seating, as well as full bars and dine-in service using call button technology. Moviehouse & Eatery also offers premium large format auditoriums, “Bighouse”, in 3 theatres and luxurious dining lounges in all locations. Moviehouse & Eatery is poised for continued growth, with a sixth theatre under construction in the Woodlands suburb of Houston that is expected to open in November 2019.
Effective immediately, the acquisition expands Cinépolis USA’s footprint, with no immediate plans to make any operational or guest-facing changes to the Moviehouse & Eatery brand. Moviehouse & Eatery will continue to operate independently until further notice and retain all existing employees, programs and scheduled events. Moviehouse & Eatery brings excellent talent, outstanding service and highly complementary strengths to Cinépolis, enhancing its ability to offer a premium experience to its guests and to create substantial value to its shareholders.
Dechert LLP is serving as legal counsel to Cinépolis. PJ SOLOMON is serving as financial advisor and Hightower and Associates is serving as legal counsel to Moviehouse & Eatery