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3 Anschutz screen chains to be rebuilt for 2
CEOs
Jan. 30, 2002
By Nicole Sperling
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In a move that may
return some leverage to the long-beleaguered exhibition
industry, Anschutz Corp. will consolidate its three theater
chains, Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatre Circuit and
Edwards Theatres, into one entity - with Mike Campbell, CEO of
Regal Cinemas, crowned as CEO of the combined theater
operations.
Anschutz Corp. has
named United Artists CEO Kurt Hall to helm a second company to
manage new initiatives, according to Campbell and Hall.
Campbell will run the exhibition
company - to be made up of the 20% of the U.S. theater screens
acquired in the past 18 months by Denver billionaire Philip
Anschutz - from Regal's Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters. Hall's
company, yet to be named, will focus on the company's
advertising, digital strategy and satellite network operations
from UA's Denver headquarters. Regal chief operating officer
Greg Dunn will continue in that role in the combined theater
exhibition company.
Industry
sources say Anschutz Corp. looked to Regal, which emerged from
bankruptcy Tuesday, to manage the combined theater operations
because of the company's experience integrating companies.
"Regal has a long history of
consolidation, acquiring and integrating a dozen companies in
the last decade," one industry insider said. "I think (the
decision) clearly demonstrates Anschutz's beliefs that Regal
was the backbone for the operating company going forward."
Anschutz Corp. declined comment.
"I think on the operating side this
consolidation gives us the critical mass that hasn't been seen
before in the exhibition industry," Campbell said. "On Kurt's
side it allows for an entity to focus on the ancillary revenue
streams that have always been talked about but have never been
implemented."
Campbell and Hall
will each have their own board of directors and will report to
a holding company, comprising Anschutz Corp.,
co-investor/buyout firm Oaktree Capital Management and several
other investors. Campbell and Hall will share the title of
co-vice chairman of the parent company.
"The key word is 'focus' in the way we divided up
our world," Hall said. "Mike will be focusing on the theater
business, and I will be concentrating on all the new
businesses."
The combined
entity, which has yet to be named, will open an L.A.-based
film office. Mike Pade, executive vp at United Artists, will
head film buying and booking out of the L.A. office and will
report to Dunn. Under Pade, Regal's Denise Guerin will be the
head film buyer for the western half of the United States, and
UA's head film buyer, Ted Cooper, will manage film buying for
the eastern half. According to Hall, UA's New York office will
be shut down.
"I think it's a
pretty good lineup," one studio distribution executive said.
"Campbell is a great theater operator, Kurt is a brainiac, and
Greg is the worker. The three of them together make a strong
theater operation."
According to
Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Universal Pictures:
"I have a lot of respect for both Mike and Kurt. I think it
will be a strong company, and I look forward to our very long
and successful relationship continuing."
Regal has emerged from bankruptcy with a
"dramatically improved" balance sheet, according to Campbell.
Debt has been lowered from $2 billion to $500 million after
selling $200 million in senior subordinated notes. The company
closed just under 1,000 screens during bankruptcy proceedings,
emerging Tuesday with 3,600 stand-alone screens.
Campbell and Hall articulated that
the management team integration has yet to be completed, but
both executives hope to integrate most of the existing
executives into the new structure.
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