Galaxy Studio denies Galaxy Cinema sale rumours

No negotiations took place over Galaxy Cinema , says Galaxy Studio

This was announced by Galaxy M&E's general director Dinh Thai Huong reacting to the rumours about the sale.

"No negotiations between Galaxy Studio, the subsidiary of Galaxy M&A, and private equity firms took place. We do not want to waste more time to explain this rumour," Huong added.

Previously, Destreetasia published information revealed by a source that Galaxy Studio was negotiating with a private equity firm about $25-million sale.

Being the third largest operator in Vietnam, followed by CGV with 38 multiplexes and Lotte Cinema with 29 units, Galaxy Cinema currently runs 10 multiplexes across the country. Galaxy Cinema will open six more multiplexes in Ho Chi Minh, the central province of Nghe An's Vinh, Haiphong, and Ca Mau in 2017 and five or six more in 2018.

Previously, Galaxy Cinema received an undisclosed amount of funding from Ho Chi Minh City-based private equity firm Vietnam Investment Group, which has recently funded another low-cost cinema chain called Beta Media, along with Hong Kong's Blue HK Investments.

Galaxy Cinema is a brand of Galaxy Studio, a film making and distribution firm which is a part of Thien Ngan (Galaxy) Group.

In 2013, Vietnamese media reports said that Golden Screen Cinemas, a unit of Malaysia's PPB Group, acquired 25 per cent of Galaxy Studio for $20 million. The Malaysian investor increased its holding to 40 per cent in 2016, saying it expected the business in Vietnam to double its profit contribution compared to 2015.