Cinema City swallows Multikino to become dominant multiplex chain

Cinema City, owned by Israeli International Theatres, has become the largest operator of multiplex cinemas in Poland now that it has acquired the Ster Century cinema network. Cinema City is particularly prevalent in Warsaw where it owns five multiplexes. The combined number of screens now owned by the company exceeds those controlled by Multikino, which so far had been the largest operator, and is owned by the ITI Group and UCI concern. "In the near future we are going to build more multiplexes which will be also located in Warsaw. We are planning to at least double the number of our cinema screens," said Pawel Wachnik, the general manager of Cinema City Poland. After taking over its competitor Ster Century, Cinema City has at its disposal 86 screens. The price paid for the purchase was not revealed. Officially, the withdrawal of Ster Century from Poland was due to South African concern Ster Kinekor's withdrawal from the European market. It is not a secret that the revenues generated by Polish cinemas are far from their owner's expectations. (Puls Biznesu, p. 8) A.Z.