Yahoo Finance Cineworld pays out $100m to bankers and lawyers in ill-fated survival battle
Cineworld has paid out more than $100m (£85m) in fees to bankers and lawyers over the past two years in an ill-fated battle for survival, Telegraph analysis reveals.
The multiplex chain, now on the edge of bankruptcy, scrambled to secure a string of debt deals during the pandemic as lockdowns forced it to shut.
In its 2021 accounts, Cineworld said it had paid $9.1m in advisory fees last year to set up new debt agreements, as well as incurring $46.5m in “amendment fees for refinancing”.
Cineworld brought in lawyers and bankers to restructure debt deals it had previously agreed at the height of Covid restrictions and carried onerous conditions.
In 2020, it spent $46.6m on legal and adviser fees to set up new debt facilities, taking the total paid to $102m in 2020 and 2021. During the same period, Cineworld posted a $3bn loss in 2020 followed by a $708m loss a year later.
Cineworld declined to comment on the fees, which were paid out to consultants including PJT Partners and AlixPartners, and lawyers including Kirkland & Ellis.
Its repeated refinancing efforts have failed to prevent a crisis. The world's second-largest cinema operator confirmed it is weighing up options for a rescue deal, including a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the US.
The company is preparing to seek protection from its creditors after struggling with almost $4.9bn in debt, and is understood to have hired US law firm Kirkland & Ellis again and consultants AlixPartners as advisers.
