Cineworld Group plc and City Screen Limited A report on the completed acquisition by Cineworld Group plc of City Screen Limited 8 October 2013 Competition Commission 2013 Website: www.competition-commission.org.uk Members of the Competition Commission who conducted this inquiry Alasdair Smith (Chairman of the Group) Rosalind Hedley-Miller Jon Stern John Wotton Chief Executive and Secretary of the Competition Commission David Saunders The Competition Commission has excluded from this published version of the report information which the inquiry group considers should be excluded having regard to the three considerations set out in section 244 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (specified information: considerations relevant to disclosure). The omissions are indicated by []. Some numbers have been replaced by a range. These are shown in square brackets. Non-sensitive wording is also indicated in square brackets. iii Contents Page Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3 Findings ................................................................................................................................ 6 Appendices A Terms of reference and conduct of the inquiry B Financial background C Price-concentration analysis D Customer surveys E Likelihood of entry or expansion F Pricing incentive analysis G Competitive effects H Description of the behavioural remedy proposals Glossary iv Table of contents Page Summary ............................................................................................................................. 3 Findings ............................................................................................................................... 6 1. The reference ................................................................................................................. 6 2. The companies .............................................................................................................. 6 Cineworld ........................................................................................................................ 6 City Screen Limited ......................................................................................................... 7 3. The merger and the relevant merger situation ............................................................ 9 Outline of merger situation .............................................................................................. 9 The rationale for the merger ............................................................................................ 9 Jurisdiction .................................................................................................................... 10 4. The cinema exhibition industry .................................................................................. 11 History of demand ......................................................................................................... 11 The film supply chain ..................................................................................................... 11 Digitization of film distribution and exhibition ................................................................. 12 Cinema exhibitors ......................................................................................................... 13 Types of cinema ............................................................................................................ 14 The economics of cinema exhibition .............................................................................. 16 Revenue .................................................................................................................. 16 Costs ....................................................................................................................... 16 5. Market definition ......................................................................................................... 17 Cinema exhibition services ............................................................................................ 17 Product market ........................................................................................................ 17 Geographic market .................................................................................................. 19 Programming services ................................................................................................... 21 Conclusions on market definition ................................................................................... 21 6. Assessment of the competitive effects of the merger .............................................. 21 The nature of competition in the market ........................................................................ 21 Positioning of cinemas ............................................................................................. 21 Monitoring of competition......................................................................................... 22 Pricing and service quality ....................................................................................... 23 Customer segmentation, marketing and membership schemes ............................... 24 Range of titles and programming ............................................................................. 25 Counterfactual ............................................................................................................... 26 Effects of the merger ..................................................................................................... 27 Theories of harm ..................................................................................................... 28 Assessment of Theory of Harm 1—loss of competition in local areas ...................... 29 Assessment of Theory of Harm 2—loss of potential competition in local areas ........ 46 Assessment of Theory of Harm 3—impact of the merger on programming services 48 Rivalry-enhancing synergies ......................................................................................... 50 7. Conclusion on the SLC test ........................................................................................ 51 8. Remedies ..................................................................................................................... 51 Structural remedies ....................................................................................................... 52 Effectiveness ........................................................................................................... 52 Proportionality ......................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion on the effectiveness and proportionality of divestiture ........................... 55 Relevant customer benefits ........................................................................................... 56 Behavioural remedies .................................................................................................... 56 Increased supervision and regulation in Aberdeen and Bury St Edmunds ............... 57 Conclusion on the increased supervision and regulation remedies proposed by the parties .................................................................................................................... 58 Price control ............................................................................................................ 58 Management contract .............................................................................................. 58 1 Conclusions on the effectiveness of behavioural remedies ...................................... 59 Decision on the choice of remedy and implementation .................................................. 59 2 Summary 1. On 30 April 2013, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the completed acquisition by Cineworld Group plc (Cineworld) of City Screen Limited (the transaction) to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation and report. 2. With a portfolio of 78 cinemas in the UK, Cineworld is one of the largest operators of cinemas. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its revenue in 2012 was £359 million. Prior to the transaction, City Screen Limited operated 21 cinemas, prin- cipally under the Picturehouse brand. Throughout this report, we refer to City Screen Limited and its subsidiaries as Picturehouse. Prior to the transaction, Picturehouse was privately owned and relied on funding from venture capital firms. In 2011, Picturehouse’s turnover was £24.3 million.1 While Cineworld operates mainly large cinemas, many of which are out of town, Picturehouse’s cinemas tend to be smaller cinemas located in city centres. 3. Cineworld and Picturehouse (collectively the parties) initiated negotiations in June 2012. The shareholders of Picturehouse did not actively seek out or negotiate with any other potential buyers. On 6 December 2012 Cineworld acquired the entire share capital of City Screen Limited. In making the acquisition, Cineworld’s strategy was to reach what it perceived to be a new and growing segment. 4. Together, the parties’ share of supply of cinema exhibition services in the UK is just over 26 per cent. We are satisfied that a relevant merger situation has been created as a result of the transaction. 5. Cinemas are of various sizes, and a distinction is generally made by the industry between multiplexes (which have more than