Nat'l Amusements fails to attract bidders

March 24, 2009 Citigroup has attracted little bidding interest for National Amusements' theaters since distributing briefing books this month, partly because prospective suitors have been prevented from cherry-picking assets from the 1,000-plus screens up for sale. Regal Cinemas, Cinemark and others might be quick to bid on a select number of the theaters, which are spread nationwide with a key concentration of screens in the Northeast. The exhibitor also took Russian screens off the table before distributing a second auction book on international assets in the U.K. and Latin America that number among its roughly 1,500 worldwide movie screens.

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