(Reuters) - Cineworld will buy Canada's Cineplex for $1.65 billion (£1.29 billion) in cash, making the British firm the biggest cinema operator in North America as it looks to tackle increasing competition from online streaming services. Cineworld said on Monday the deal, which values Cineplex at $2.1 billion including debt, would involve it seeking $2.3 billion in loans, sending shares of the FTSE-250 member down as much as 9% and erasing early gains. The C$34 ($25.56) per share offer is at a premium of 42% to the Toronto-based company's closing price on Friday. While cinemas rely on big movie releases to generate gains, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video are invading that space with direct to stream movies or releasing movies within a few weeks of their cinema debut.

Source: International New York Times December 16, 2019 08:03 UTC