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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > December 20, 2007
Marcus acquires Minnesota film buyer
Published December 20, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
Marcus Theatres Corp., a division of The Marcus Corp., today announced it has signed an agreement to purchase a portion of Paul Silk Film Buying Co. of Minneapolis, Minn.
he transaction is expected to close on Jan. 14, 2008. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Under the agreement, Marcus Theatres will perform film buying services for 15 locations owned by five exhibitors, representing 152 screens located in Minnesota. Services will include film buying, booking and other related responsibilities and management services.
Paul Silk, owner of Paul Silk Film Buying Company, will join Marcus Theatres as a senior vice president.
Marcus Theatres will own or manage 595 screens at 49 locations as of Friday, December 21, with the opening of a new UltraScreen auditorium at its existing 16-screen theatre in Pickerington, Ohio.
"We are absolutely delighted to have Paul Silk join our company. He has had experience on both sides of the table. We have known him for 30 years in his roles in distribution, as well as more recently as a film buyer. He will be a valuable addition to our film department," said Bruce Olson, president of Marcus Theatres.
Marcus Corp. today also reported fiscal second quarter net earnings of $2.9 million, or 10 cents per share, which was down significantly from $10.0 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Last year's second quarter net earnings included pre-tax gains on the disposition of property, equipment and other assets of $8.6 million related to the sale of surplus movie theatre and restaurant properties and development gains on the sale of units at the company's condominium hotel project in Las Vegas. Prior year results also benefited from historic tax credits related to the renovation of the Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City.
The company's total revenues for the second quarter were $83.4 million, up 18.2 percent from revenues of $70.6 million for the same period a year earlier.
"We are pleased that we achieved increases in revenues and operating income in the second quarter. However, we were disappointed that a strong slate of summer movies was followed by a relatively weak slate of films during the second quarter, negatively impacting the results of Marcus Theatres. Second quarter operating results for Marcus Hotels and Resorts showed solid improvement and would have been even better if not for a significant real estate tax adjustment received during the quarter at one of our owned hotels. Our second quarter net earnings were down from the prior year because of the historic tax credits and significant development and real estate gains that we did not have in this year's second quarter," said Stephen Marcus, chairman and chief executive officer of The Marcus Corp.
