Hoyts
| File:Hoyts group.gif | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film Exhibition, Film Distribution, Cinema Advertising |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
Area served | Australia, New Zealand |
Key people | Delfin Fernandez (Group CEO), Robert Slaviero (CEO - Hoyts Distribution), Graeme Yarwood (CEO - Val Morgan), David Kirk (Chairman of the Board - Hoyts) |
| Products | Hoyts Ace Cinema, Hoyts Ace, Hoyts Cinema |
| Parent | Pacific Equity Partners |
| Subsidiaries | Hoyts Distribution |
| Website | www.hoyts.com.au |
The Hoyts Group is an Australian company consisting of Hoyts Exhibition, Hoyts Distribution and Val Morgan.
Hoyts Exhibition manages 450 screens across 40 Australian and 9 New Zealand cinema complexes; making it Australia's second largest cinema chain. Val Morgan, the cinema advertising arm of the Hoyts group, dominates the cinema advertising market with over 95% market share. Finally, Hoyts Distribution is the largest independent film distributor in Australia; a business centred around the purchase of rights to, and subsequent management of, distributing independent films in Australia through theatrical, television and home entertainment channels[1].
The Hoyts Group is presently a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Sydney-based Pacific Equity Partners[2][1].
In the exhibition business, the largest part of The Hoyts Group, their main rivals are Village, Greater Union and, to a lesser extent, Wallis Cinemas, Palace Cinemas and Dendy.
History
At the start of the 20th century dentist Dr Arthur Russell, who was, in his spare time, a cornet player and a magician, purchased a share in a small American travelling circus, known as Hoyts Circus, and travelled with them as the resident magician. After a financially disastrous run, Russell returned to his work as a dentist.
Undeterred, he leased the old St. Georges Hall in Bourke Street, Melbourne (later known as the Hoyts Esquire), and began showing short films on Saturday nights. Unlike his previous venture, it was successful, and as a result, he formed a new company called Hoyts Pictures Pty. Ltd. By the time he died at the end of World War I, Hoyts had expanded into the suburbs of Melbourne, and into Sydney.
In 1926, Hoyts and two other companies, Electric Theatres Pty. Ltd. and Associated Theatres Pty. Ltd., merged to become Hoyts Theatres Limited. In 1932, the Fox Film Corporation (now Twentieth Century Fox) secured a major shareholding in the company.
In August 1982, Twentieth Century Fox sold Hoyts to a group of four Melbourne businessmen. In April 1985, the Fink family brought out the other partners to become the sole owner. The Finks began to expand the company, into areas such as film distribution, home entertainment, and cinema operations in New Zealand, USA, South America and Europe.
In 1987, the corporation was restructured and two of the companies in the corporation were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange: Hoyts Media and Hoyts Entertainment. However, the company that owned the cinemas, Hoyts Cinemas, was not floated until 1996. The years between 1987 and 1996 saw considerable expansion, so that by 1994, Hoyts was the 10th biggest cinema chain in the world and was owned by an American investment company—Hellman and Friedman—directors and senior management, and the Australian company Lend Lease Corporation.
In 1996, Hoyts Cinemas was floated and in 1999, the late Kerry Packer's private family company, Consolidated Press Holdings, bought the chain for $620 million (AUD$745.3 million). After that, Hoyts began to sell off cinemas. This trend began in 1999 when their Polish operations were sold, and in 2000 when their UK operations were also sold. In 2003, Hoyts sold its Hoyts America operations to Regal Entertainment Group.
In 2004, it joined forces with Village Roadshow and AHL to bail out Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, eventually taking their stake to 100% in 2005. In December that year, PBL and West Australian Newspapers purchased the company from Consolidated Press Holdings.
On March 29, 2007, Hoyts opened their latest cinema in Sylvia Park[1], in Auckland, New Zealand - featuring what is now the largest 35 mm film screen in the world[2] and bean bag seating.
In September, 2007, PBL and WAN sold each of their 50% shares in the Hoyts Group to Sydney-based private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners. The sale valued the company at $AU440 million[3].
In October 2008, Hoyts announced a takeover bid for Australian Multiplex Cinemas (AMC). The purchase did not proceed although Hoyts still hopes to return to Queensland, where previously they had theatres in Brisbane and a three cinema complex in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast under their name.
Features
La Premiere
La Premiere is a luxury cinema located in prime viewing positions of certain auditoriums in selected complexes. La Premiere ticket holders can use an exclusive bar and lounge before or after their chosen film, with a selection of food and drinks. Food can also be delivered to an customers seat if he or she wants to eat or drink during the screening. In Australia, La Premiere is open all day, but in New Zealand, it is only open from 6 PM. Another version of La Premiere, called Director's Suite, can also be hired by groups.
Half Pipe
The Half Pipe (written as theHALFpipe) replaces ordinary cinema seating with oversized bean bags. Some Half Pipe cinemas are equipped with a curved floor, representing a skate board or ski half pipe. Half Pipe cinemas are designed to create a relaxing environment where customers can "chill out".
Xtremescreen
Xtrememscreen cinemas boast the biggest screen and best sound in the complex, with the screen at Hoyts Blacktown being the largest at 28 metres wide. Customers are unable to purchase Xtremescreen tickets online. They must be purchased at the cinema box office.
Hoyts IMAX
In 2008, Hoyts opened three digital IMAX screens at Carousel, Entertainment Quarter and Highpoint. The first film shown in IMAX was the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Both 2D and 3D films are shown in Hoyts IMAX. Only selected IMAX films are shown. In 2009, Hoyts screened The Dark Knight in IMAX despite that it was no longer showing in any other cinema. To this day, only two documentaries have been shown in Hoyts IMAX.
Digital Cinema capital investment plans
Hoyts Exhibition has announced plans to replace all film equipment with Digital Cinema equipment within an ambitious 18 month window, in preparation for the sale of the Hoyts group. The modernization of the equipment to the current Hollywood mandated Digital Cinema standard, is expected to cost the group somewhere in the order of 30 million AUD. This amount is subsidized by the Virtual Print Fee received from the participating Hollywood Studios. This 30M AUD cost is also expected to be offset by the significant reduction in staffing requirements (exhibitors in the USA are claiming a 90% reduction in projection staff post modernization). If Hoyts follow through with their capital investment plans, they stand a chance of relinquishing their position as the lowest capital investor in the Australian cinema exhibition industry.
Hoyts Distribution
Hoyts Distribution is the film distribution arm of the company. It existed in its own right in the 1980s-early 1990s, and was later merged with the distribution operations of Columbia Tristar and 20th Century Fox. In 2002, the company was brought back to life, distributing primarily films produced by Nine Films and Television, Channel 9's film production arm, and major independent studios, such as Lions Gate Entertainment.
Hoyts Exhibition
Hoyts Exhibition, the largest and most well-known arm of The Hoyts Group, manages cinemas in five Australian states; the Australian Capital Terrirtory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
Hoyts Exhibition also operates 8 cinemas across New Zealand.
Australian Locations
| ACT | NSW | SA | Vic | WA | Qld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belconnen | Bankstown | Norwood | Broadmeadows | Carousel* | Redcliffe |
| Woden | Blacktown | Salisbury | Chadstone | Stafford | |
| Broadway | Tea Tree Plaza, Modbury | Eastland, Ringwood | Garden City | Sunnybank | |
| Charlestown | Frankston | Millennium | |||
| Chatswood Westfield | Forest Hill | Queensgate | |||
| Chatswood Mandarin | Greensborough | Southlands | |||
| Cinema Paris, Moore Park | Highpoint* | Rockingham | |||
| Eastgardens | Melbourne Central | ||||
| Entertainment Quarter* | Northland | ||||
| Erina | Victoria Gardens | ||||
| Mount Druitt | Watergardens | ||||
| Penrith | |||||
| Tweed Heads South | |||||
| Warringah Mall | |||||
| Wetherill Park | |||||
| Warrawong |
Asterisk indicates IMAX installation in 2008.
New Zealand Locations
| Auckland | Christchurch | Dunedin | Wellington |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvia Park | Moorhouse | Octagon | Regent on Manners |
| Wairau Park | Northlands | ||
| Regent on Worcester | |||
| Riccarton |
Defunct locations in New Zealand
Hoyts Lower Hutt 5-plex, opened in 1993, closed on 6 February 2008. The building will become the new home of the Lower Hutt Baptist Church.
Hoyts also operated the MidCity 5-plex from 1990 until it closure in May 2003. The site was later redeveloped into Conservation House, the headquarters of the Department of Conservation.
Hoyts also operated Movieland 5-plex (Rotorua) and Movieland 4-plex (Invercargill) both from 1993 to 2005 (Both taken over by Reading Cinemas); Movieland 3-plex (Timaru) 1997 to 2000 (taken over by Independent operator); Whangaparaoa 5-plex from 1996 to 1999 (taken over by Berkeley Group)
Bluewater
Hoyts were the original operator of the multi-screen cinema at the Bluewater shopping mall in the UK[4], having been signed up by Bluewater developer Lend Lease Corporation (also an Australian firm). Hoyts also operated the 'Gallery' upmarket subsection to the Bluewater cinema. A couple of years later, Hoyts decided to exit the UK market to concentrate on their operations in Australia and New Zealand, as the Bluewater site was their only UK operation, making the operation uneconomical. Showcase Cinemas, an established UK cinema operator, took over operation of the Bluewater cinema[5], though retained much of the fabric, layout and design that had been introduced by Hoyts, including The Gallery. (Showcase also operate the Cinema de Lux brand of upmarket cinema but as of 2009 have not introduced this branding to the Gallery at Bluewater).
Val Morgan
Val Morgan holds the advertising rights to virtually all advertising screens in Australia and almost all screens in New Zealand. In Australia, this includes the circuits of Hoyts, Greater Union, Village, Birch Carroll & Coyle, Wallis, Reading Cinemas, Australian Multiplex Cinemas, Skycity Cinemas, Regent Cinemas and the majority of independent cinemas[6].
In addition to on-screen advertising, Val Morgan is involved in such cinema-based advertising opportunities as co-branding, poster boxes, foyer displays and live advertisements[7].
Through a joint-venture with Motivate Publishing, the Gulf's leading publisher of magazines and books, Val Morgan has recently expanded its operations into the United Arab Emirates, representing the advertising interests of many key cinemas in the region[6].
Home entertainment
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Hoyts operated the local operations of RCA-Columbia Pictures Home Video, known as RCA-Columbia Pictures-Hoyts Home Video. It was later known as Columbia Tristar Hoyts Home Video, but Hoyts soon dropped out of the business. Hoyts Distribution releases are distributed on video and DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
There was also four imprints the company had: First Release Home Entertainment, Video Box Office, Magic Window (children's videos) and RCA-Columbia Pictures International Video.
Hoyts also had a joint venture with Polygram, forming Hoyts Polygram Video at the around the same time as their joint venture with RCA-Columbia Pictures Home Video. Their only well known release was the film version of New Zealand comic strip Footrot Flats, entitled Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale.
See also
- Australian Theatres
- Birch Carroll & Coyle
- Event Cinemas
- Greater Union
- Regent Cinemas
- Reading Cinemas
- The Movie Masters Cinema Group
- Village Roadshow
- Wallis Cinemas
- Warner Village Cinemas
References
- ^ a b Pacific Equity Partners
- ^ Hoyts to be sold to private equity group - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ^ Private equity firm swallows Hoyts Group - Breaking News - Business - Breaking News
- ^ Hoyts Bluewater development
- ^ Showcase Bluewater website
- ^ a b Val Morgan Cinema Network - : History
- ^ Val Morgan Cinema Network - : Off Screen
External links
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