12/09/2006

The Kinepolis Group, created in 1988 through the partnership of two family companies, Bert Group and Claeys Group, and confirmed by their merger in 1997, is now owned only by Bert Group, with Joost Bert as its only CEO.

The Claeys, who owned 25% of the business, have decided to leave the group almost entirely, keeping only 1.92% to entrust institutional investors, while almost all of the rest was sold to the Berts, allowing them to become majority shareholders (with over 40%).

These changes are taking place after the very positive results published at the beginning of the month. Indeed, the first semester of 2006 brought a net profit of €7.5m (last year, Kinepolis generated €8.1m), plus €13.6m earned in the theatres (with 11.8m admissions) and a 10% increase in admission rates.

As the group keeps developing in Belgium (it just opened its tenth multiplex in Bruges and is developing a project in Ostende) and Europe (after Nancy, its ambitions spread to Madrid and Grenada), in July it also announced the closing of a strategic agreement with Thomson's Technicolor Digital Cinema to equip 130 Belgian theatres with Barco projectors – 23 screens have already been equipped, including in Nancy and Madrid. This innovative strategy also makes Kinepolis a leader in digital technology, and therefore in alternative services and offers.

(Translated from French)