Four companies which form part of troubled cinema operator Cineworld have had restructuring plans approved by a High Court judge, staving off the threat of administration.
It will also see the four companies renegotiate the leases of some of their more than 100 sites, five of which are now set to close due to being “commercially unviable”. But their barrister, Tom Smith KC, told the court on Thursday that they are “presently unprofitable” after being “severely adversely impacted” by the Covid-19 pandemic and strikes by screen actors and writers last year.
Mr Justice Miles also dismissed a bid by the landlords of four sites, the Crown Estate and UK Commercial Property , to get an injunction blocking the companies from renegotiating the leases of the sites.