UK's Cineworld scraps planned sale of Eastern European, Israeli operations

(Reuters) -British cinema chain operator Cineworld said on Tuesday it has abandoned the planned sale of its businesses in Eastern Europe and Israel, saying the proposals it got did not meet the value needed by its lenders.

The world's second-largest cinema chain operator after AMC Entertainment placed the majority of its business under U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

The company's business operations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Israel, clubbed under its 'Rest of World' business, is not under bankruptcy protection and accounted for about 13% of its revenue in 2021.

Earlier this month, Cineworld scrapped plans to sell its U.S., UK and Ireland businesses after failing to find a buyer, and filed a reorganisation plan to cut debt by about $4.53 billion and raise $2.26 billion in funds to emerge from bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)