Mainboard-listed mm2 Asia 1B0 will acquire and take over operations of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi on Nov 1, 2024, from EW Cinemas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eng Wah Global. The cinema will assume operations as Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321.
mm2 Asia started “rightsizing” Cathay Cineplexes, in which cinema operations in two Orchard Road locations, Parkway Parade and AMK Hub were most recently stopped. “This has inevitably raised concerns and doubts about our abilities to continue the cinema business,” says Melvin Ang, executive chairman of mm2 Asia.
He notes that the cinema business has not fully recovered in the past three years post-Covid-19 — from its mandated closures to limited capacity occupancies due to social distancing followed by the strikes in Hollywood that resulted in a blockbuster shortage, and changing consumer habits of the audiences.
However, Ang believes that this “strategic addition” of WE Cinemas demonstrates mm2 Asia’s continued confidence in the cinema business and the belief that blockbusters will return to screens soon.
Meanwhile, its rightsizing exercise in the above-mentioned cinema locations “has gone well”, says Ang. “Our current structure places us in a much better position for when business rebounds, not long from now as we expect it to,” he adds.
mm2 Asia has added new locations, including Century Square in Tampines in November 2023 and now Clementi 321. Ang hopes to include a few more while monitoring the recovery of the industry. “Rightsizing means managing our overall costs effectively while continuing to provide good customer service and experiences,” he says.
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As Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321 is located in the heart of a “well-positioned estate” which serves a good spread of public housing and private estates; and tertiary institutions, Ang believes that these factors will enable the business to flourish.
Cathay Cineplexes currently operates five cinemas with 35 screens across Singapore. The group has thirteen locations with 99 screens in Malaysia operating under the mmCineplexes label.
Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321 features 10 screens and a total of 728 seats, including a premium movie hall and couple seating.
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“We are very appreciative and grateful for the phenomenal support from our cinema patrons since the opening of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi. Under the management and team of Cathay Cineplexes, customers can continue to enjoy the very best cinematic entertainment that the movie industry has to offer, and we are committed to supporting the new management for the transition,” says Goh Min Yen, managing director of Eng Wah Global.
Shares in mm2 Asia closed flat at 1.7 cents on Oct 18.
