South Korea’s CJ CGV, partners buying Turkey’s MARS Entertainment

ISTANBUL/SEOUL

CJ CGV Co Ltd, South Korea’s largest movie theater chain operator, and its partners will acquire 100 percent of Turkey’s MARS Entertainment Group for 605 million euros ($687.82 million), Reuters has reported. 

CJ CGV said in a filing on April 4 that it would acquire a 38 percent stake in MARS, which operates 710 screens under the brand Cinemaximum, while multiple unnamed partners will acquire the remaining 62 percent.

MARS said in another written statement that the deal was inked by the company’s main shareholders, the Actera Group, Esas Holding, Muzaffer Yıldırım and Menderes Utku with the Korean company, adding that the stake transfer would be completed after approval from the Competition Board. 

The MARS Group, which was established in 2001, owned a total of 83 cinemas and 736 movie screens in 32 provinces across Turkey at the end of 2015, according to the statement. 

CJ CGV has operated a total of 249 cinemas with some 2,000 movie screens in China, the United States, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar, added the statement. 

In the sale process, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley offered advisory services to the Actera Group and Esas Holding. CJ CGV benefited from the services of Citigoup, according to the statement. 

The sale process does not cover the MAC gym chain, it added.