MANN THEATRES SOLD; WARNER, PARAMOUNT ACQUIRE AGING CHAIN.Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer A Delaware Delaware, state, United States Delaware (dĕl`əwâr, –wər), one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States, the country's second smallest state (after Rhode Island). bankruptcy court bankruptcy court n. the specialized Federal court in which bankruptcy matters under the Federal Bankruptcy Act are conducted. There are several bankruptcy courts in each state, and each one's territory covers several counties. approved a $91 million bid Tuesday by Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . and Paramount Studios for the defunct DEFUNCT. A term used for one that is deceased or dead. In some acts of assembly in Pennsylvania, such deceased person is called a decedent. (q.v.) Mann Theatres chain. The chain's parent company, WestStar Cinemas Inc., declared bankruptcy bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiver, the bankrupt's assets equitably among creditors and, in most last year. It later negotiated a sale agreement with WF Cinema Holdings - a limited partnership between Warner Bros. and Paramount - but the bankruptcy court ordered the sale opened up to competitive bids. No other companies bid on the 351-screen chain, and Warner Bros. spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti said the court process Tuesday was ``fairly routine.'' The deal calls for WF Cinema to pay WestStar $46 million up front and an additional $45 million by Oct. 15, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court documents. WF Cinema also would take on several financial obligations of the failed Mann chain. Brogliatti declined to say when the first half of the purchase price would be paid. Entertainment analyst Kevin Skislock of Irvine-based Laguna Research Partners said the absence of competing bids reflects the industry's wariness of aging theaters. ``Any expansion strategy that involves the purchase of existing theaters is a risky strategy,'' Skislock said. ``Consumers drive right past old theaters to get to new theaters. They drive right past remodeled theaters to get to new theaters.'' Encino-based WestStar operates 53 Mann Theatres in Colorado and California, including the landmark Mann's Chinese Theatre Chinese theatre has a long and complex history. Today it is often called Chinese opera although this normally refers specifically to the popular form known as Beijing Opera; there have been many other forms of theatre in China. in Hollywood, the Plant 16 in Van Nuys, the six-screen Agoura Mann, the Village 8 in Westlake Village, the seven-screen Mann in Valencia and the 10-screen Exchange in Glendale. WestStar acquired the chain in 1997 from Cinamerica, a partnership between Warner Bros. and Paramount that had owned the chain since 1986. WestStar paid about $165 million for the chain, which in 1997 had a far larger inventory. WestStar struggled with Mann's aging theaters, however, and it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September after failing to find a buyer for the ailing chain. Skislock said that while another company might be willing to buy some of Mann's assets, the partnership probably did not buy the theaters to sell them at a quick profit. ``I think they're going to go through the business model for each one of those theaters with a fine tooth comb comb 1. a vascular, red cutaneous structure attached in a sagittal plane to the dorsum of the skull of domestic fowl. It consists of a base attached to the skull, a central mass called the body, a backward projecting blade and upward projecting points. 2. ,'' Skislock continued. ``They're going to do their best to make those theaters perform.'' |
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