As Imax appears up for sale with early-stage talks with possible suitors, financial analysts have lost no time speculating on who may be a likely buyer. And Wall Street’s list, right now, is long. It stretches from traditional exhibitors (possibly), to private equity firms (could be circling) and tech giants (it would be a rounding error for them) along with a couple major entertainment conglomerates.
David Joyce, at Seaport Research Partners, argued Imax is performing well as a standalone large format cinema company. But if the company is for sale, Joyce in a May 22 note pointed to Cinemark or AMC Theatres as logical acquirers, and added “we truly hope it is going to be an all-cash deal for investors since most potential strategic investors would have conflicts of interest that could hinder the trajectory of the business.”
Long term Imax investors are no strangers to possible sales talk around the film technologies company as the Toronto-based company, led by CEO Richard Gelfond since 1994, over the years has sounded out the market for a possible sale or merger, only to take itself off the auction block with suitable bids didn’t materialize.
Now Imax appears to be going through a possible sales exercise again as major Hollywood studios double down on theatrical releases with longer windows and premium screen experiences coming out of the pandemic.
