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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Topic: GKC up for sale?!?
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Justin West
Master Film Handler
Posts: 271
From: Peoria, IL, USA
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 05-03-2005 11:39 AM
Note to Jeremy: Tell GKC to "F*ck off!" if they are hammering on you for participating on this website. You have a right to your opinion, just be wise not to release confidential company business details. I do not know what you had posted that you since deleted but that is my impression.
Now, for everyone else: Here is the latest from the pages of the Peoria Journal Star, 5/3/05:
Carmike Cinemas to buy GKC
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
PEORIA - The George Kerasotes Corp. is on the verge of being sold to one of the nation's largest movie theater chains, but representatives on both sides of the deal stressed Monday that patrons of GKC multiplexes in central Illinois will notice few changes right away.
It's down the road when the massive resources of Carmike Cinemas Inc., which recently announced plans to buy GKC, could lead to improved facilities and presentations at GKC's Landmark Mall Cinemas in Peoria and Sunnyland Cinemas in Washington.
"While on Day One you might not see the immediate changes, there's no doubt that they're in a better position to take care of the long-term changes that are ahead in the industry," said Bryan Jeffries, GKC's executive vice president of film and marketing.
Carmike Cinemas, a publicly traded company based in Columbus, Ga., has agreed to buy the family-owned and Midwestern-based GKC Theatres for $66 million.
According to Jeffries, the deal will be finalized May 18, one day before the final installment of the highly profitable "Star Wars" franchise, "Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith," hits theaters.
The Carmike name already is one of the biggest in the movie theater industry, with roughly 280 theaters and 2,173 screens in 36 states. To those figures, the company now will add GKC's 30 theaters and 263 screens, which includes locations not just in Peoria and Washington but also in Bloomington, Normal, Peru, Sterling, Lincoln and other Illinois communities.
GKC Theatres Inc. is not related to Kerasotes Theatres, the entity that controls ShowPlace 14 in Pekin.
A large factor in the buyout is location. GKC is based in four states - Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin - where Carmike has a combined four theater complexes.
"We think that this just brings a greater concentration in the areas we're not in," said Judy Russell, the company's director of investor and public relations.
Many of the executive positions at GKC's headquarters in Springfield are being relocated to Georgia or eliminated, Jeffries said.
As for the theaters themselves, moviegoers aren't likely to notice many physical changes, at least initially. Carmike has no immediate plans to close any of the GKC facilities, according to Russell. And she said the company already is considering potential renovations to some theaters in the GKC fleet, though she would not reveal any specific details.
Even slight cosmetic alterations might not happen right away. It could take weeks before the Carmike name and logo begins to appear on popcorn bags and signs, and the new owners plan on honoring GKC's current contract with Pepsi despite the fact that Carmike theaters traditionally sell Coca-Cola products at their concession stands. Jeffries did not know the length of that contract, but he estimated it is at least a few years.
GKC last year drew the ire of some liberal-minded film fans when company President Beth Kerasotes announced she did not want her theaters to show Michael Moore's Bush-bashing polemic, "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Carmike, meanwhile, will not adopt or protect the politics of either side of the aisle, Russell said.
"We don't try to put our political views out on anybody," she said.
In the long term, Jeffries said he thinks Carmike's size makes it better equipped to afford the expensive upgrades - things like digital projectors - that will drive the movie theater business down the road.
"Everybody is always excited when something becomes new again," Jeffries said. "I think that in this case, people have reason to be excited. I think the new owners will take a new view and certainly a new investment in the marketplace, and everybody benefits from that."
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