Vue, the chain which owns a 3,800 seater cinema at Liffey Valley in Dublin, has acquired the cinemas of Irish rival Showtime for an undisclosed sum.

Showtime operates cinemas in Limerick and Ashbourne with 13 screens and more than 2,200 seats between them.

Recently filed accounts for the holding company of these cinemas, Showtime Cinemas Limited, show it incurred a €1.08 million loss for the 12 months to the end of April 2018.

Deals

Vue, which is the third largest cinema chain in the UK, said the acquisition was financed via existing resources.

The transaction came as Vue also announced it had also acquired another company, Cinema3D in Poland.

The deals mean the group, which operates in 10 countries, now has cinemas at 228 sites offering 1,989 screens across Europe.