• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 3, 2023

Shares of Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema chain, plummeted 30% on Monday after it announced that it has abandoned plans to sell its businesses in the U.S., UK and Ireland after failing to find a buyer.

Instead, the struggling company -- which has 740 theaters, including the Regal Cinemas chain, and 28,000 employees -- said it has made a deal with its lenders to restructure its debt, raise $2.26 billion in new funding, and exit bankruptcy.

However, it will continue to seek a buyer for its businesses outside the U.S., UK and Ireland. It also owns cinemas in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Israel.

The company filed for bankruptcy in August 2022, after being hard-hit by the pandemic lockdown and consumers’ shift to streaming movies at home, and accumulating more than $4.5 billion in debt.

CEO Mooky Greidinger described the new deal as a vote of confidence in the company that will enable it to achieve its long-term strategy in a changing entertainment.