Cineplex puts company up for sale as Bill Walker becomes new CEO

MUMBAI: Cineplex is putting a new spin on the phrase ‘movie deal’, with Canada’s largest cinema exhibitor exploring a potential sale while handing the CEO reins to former Landmark Cinemas chief Bill Walker.

The Canadian exhibition giant has launched a strategic review to examine alternatives for the company, including a potential sale. Cineplex’s board has appointed Goldman Sachs and TD Securities as co-financial advisers for the process, although the company said there is no guarantee that the review will result in a transaction.

The move comes alongside Walker’s appointment as CEO, replacing Ellis Jacob, who is retiring after a long career in Canadian theatrical exhibition. Jacob will remain involved as a special adviser to the Cineplex board as the strategic review progresses.

Cineplex operates around 1,606 screens across 156 locations in Canada, making it a major exhibitor for Hollywood releases and other films in the country.

The possible sale also brings the company back to familiar territory. In 2019, U.K. exhibitor Cineworld Group agreed to acquire Cineplex for $2.1 billion, a deal that would have created a cinema group with more than 11,200 screens globally.

The transaction was abandoned in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted the cinema exhibition business. Cineplex was subsequently awarded $1.236 billion in damages for lost synergies from the failed takeover. However, the company was unable to collect the award after Cineworld entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US.

That period left Cineplex dealing with the financial fallout of the pandemic and the collapse of the proposed acquisition, with Jacob and his executive team navigating the company through a heavily disrupted Canadian exhibition market.

The latest strategic review comes as Cineplex points to improving conditions for the business, with the Canadian exhibitor benefiting from a rebound in the Hollywood box office.

Walker brings his own cinema dealmaking history to the top job. He previously served as CEO of Landmark Cinemas, Canada’s second-largest theatre exhibitor, and helped complete its sale to Belgium-based Kinepolis Group NV in 2017. He continued to lead Landmark after the transaction under Kinepolis’ public ownership.

Cineplex board chair Phyllis Yaffe said Walker brings industry expertise, operational leadership, transaction experience and strategic perspective to the role. She added that the board considered it appropriate to conduct a comprehensive review of the strategic alternatives available to the company.

Jacob had announced in 2025 that he would remain with Cineplex through the end of 2026 to support the leadership transition. His move to a special adviser role will allow him to continue assisting the board while Walker takes charge of the company’s operations.

Walker said he has spent much of his career in the exhibition industry and expressed support for the board’s review of strategic alternatives, while pointing to Cineplex’s platform, brand and opportunities for growth.

Cineplex has not set a timetable for completing the strategic review and said the company will continue operating as usual while the process is underway. For now, the cinema chain has changed its leadership and opened the door to a potential ownership change, but the final credits on that story remain unwritten.