mm2 Asia Ltd. announced today that it will acquire and take over operations of WE Cinemas at 321 Clementi on 1 November 2024. The company has reached an agreement with the cinema owner, EW Cinemas Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd, to assume operations as Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321.
Mr Melvin Ang, Executive Chairman, mm2 Asia said:
We are delighted to include Cathay Cineplexes Clementi 321 in our network of cinemas. This strategic addition demonstrates our continued confidence in the cinema business and our steadfast belief that blockbusters will return to our screens soon. The cinema business has not fully recovered in the past three years post-covid, 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 – the business recovery is taking longer than expected.
Internationally, the cinema business has seen a resurgence at the box office, as well as a global uptick in investments in recent months. Several notable acquisitions, joint ventures and large-scale cinema improvement plans have been announced in the US, China and Southeast Asia.
Mr Ang continued:
We have embarked on a journey of rightsizing Cathay Cineplexes, where we have stopped operations in two Orchard Road locations, followed by Parkway Parade and most recently AMK Hub as the space was to be redesignated for other uses. This inevitably raised concerns and doubts about our abilities to continue the cinema business.
However, we are happy to report that the rightsizing exercise has gone well. Our current structure places us in a much better position for when business rebounds, not long from now as we expect it to. We have added new locations, including Century Square in Tampines in November 2023 and now Clementi 321. We will hopefully include a few more as we monitor the rest of the recovery. Similarly, we are adopting the same rightsizing plans with our cinemas in Malaysia. Rightsizing means managing our overall costs effectively while continuing to provide good customer service and experiences.
The cinema in Clementi is well located in the heart of Clementi, in a well-positioned estate which serves a good spread of public and private housing estates, polytechnics and universities; and is the nearest to town amongst all our other cinemas operating today. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the owners and management team of We Cinemas. During this transition, we will tap into their years of experience operating cinemas under the Eng Wah group. Also, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our industry partners for their patience, support, and confidence in us during this difficult covid and post-covid period. With this support, we will continue to be a key player in the cinema scene in Singapore.
Ms. Goh Min Yen, Managing Director of Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd. said:
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.
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 is located at 321 Clementi Avenue 3, #03-03, Singapore 129905. The cinema features 10 screens and a total of 728 seats, including a premium movie hall and couple seating.