Euro plexing push
South Africa's Ster-Kinekor sets more sites
In total, 20 sites have been secured. Together, the U.K. and Ireland have five plexes under way, Poland has nine, Greece three and there are two in Hungary and one in the Czech Republic.
Screening England
The new British sites are a 12-to-14-screener in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, skedded for October 1999, and an eight-screener for the city of Norwich in eastern England (July 1999). A 16-screen plex -- also due July 1999 -- was already in place for the town of Romford, east of London.
In Ireland, Dublin has another multi, a 15-screener, set for mid-1999. It will accompany the previously announced 16-screen Dublin site, which will bow early 2000.
Cost-intensive
By 2000, the U.K. and Ireland will account for a capital investment of $80.5 million for Ster-Kinekor, reflecting the high cost of plexing in the British Isles, in the region of at least $10 million per site.
Ster-Kinekor's Eastern European multis are being built for a fraction of that, and in the case of Greece, in a joint venture with local exhib Digital Multiplex. Key new sites in Poland include three 12-screeners, one each in Warsaw, Katowice and Szczecin. In Hungary, Budapest is getting a 14-screener and a 12-plex site.
Going head-to-head
Mike Ross, managing director for Ster-Kinekor Europe, said he was "generally competing head to head" with other exhibitors in Europe, but that he thought Ster-Kinekor has been aided by the fact that it is a South African company.
"There are a lot of prejudices between European countries or against the Americans," Ross said. "We're out of that. I found we can sell strictly on the basis of the operation."
Ross added that Ster-Kinekor Europe -- which is parented by Kersaf Investments, South Africa's biggest leisure group, and Primedia, the country's No. 1 media group -- is also considering acquiring existing Western European chains.
