Cineworld’s hedge funders are drawing up plans to return the cinema operator to the public markets, amid continued uncertainty over the future of dozens of its UK sites.
Sky News has learned that the company’s owners are in the early stages of considering a listing of the business in New York, with the first half of 2026 seen as a likely window for this to take place.
City insiders said an IPO would likely encompass Cineworld’s operations outside the UK, with the group’s board expected to consider a sale of the UK operations at some point.
However, they warned that no decision had been made and would not be made for some time.
The fate of Cineworld’s UK operations has been shrouded in uncertainty for months, with the company initially considering a sale before turning to a restructuring plan that jeopardizes many of its owners and other creditors.
It announced the permanent closure of six sites, but it emerged last month that almost 20 more were at risk of closure as part of ongoing negotiations with owners.
The restructuring plan is expected to be completed later this month, which some owners have opposed due to the fairness of its terms.
Documents released as part of the restructuring plan process highlighted the fact that the company did not have sufficient funds to meet a quarterly rent bill as of June 24 of £15.9 million.
“Without this financing, the British group would have been insolvent in cash flow terms,” they said.
Other cinema operators, such as Odeon, are now set to move in to take over a small number of other Cineworld sites.
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The company operates from more than 100 sites across Britain, including within the Picturehouse chain, and employs thousands of people.
Cineworld became a global industry giant under the leadership of the Greidinger family, acquiring chains including Regal in the United States in 2018 and the British company of the same name four years earlier.
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Its multibillion-dollar debt mountain, however, plunged it into crisis and forced the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2022.
It was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in August 2023, after seeing its share price collapse.
In addition to the UK, Cineworld also operates in Central and Eastern Europe, Israel and the United States.
Cineworld has been contacted for comment.