Viacom, Time Warner Complete Sale of Chain

Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc. completed the sale of Cinamerica Theaters, their jointly owned movie-theater chain, to a group including Warburg, Pincus Ventures for about $166 million. Cinamerica operates 62 theaters with 374 screens, primarily in California and Colorado. Its properties include the Mann Theater chain and the landmark Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The sale was announced in November. The theaters were bought by WestStar Holdings Inc., a joint venture of investment firm Warburg, Pincus and Jeffrey Lewine, former president of Pittsburgh-based theater chain Cinema World. Viacom still has strong ties to the movie-theater industry. The company is controlled by Chairman Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements theater chain, which bought 83% of Viacom for $3.4 billion in 1987. Viacom also owns Famous Players, which has 112 theaters with 511 screens in Canada. The company’s interests also include the Paramount Pictures movie studio, cable-TV channels and Blockbuster Entertainment Group. Time Warner, based in New York, said in November it’s selling its stake in Cinamerica because it’s not part of the media company’s main business, which includes the Warner Bros. movie studio.