US theater company to open 40 cinemas in Saudi Arabia

Development and Investment Entertainment Co., the wholly-owned subsidiary of Public Investment Fund (PIF), has signed agreement with US-based AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. to operate 30 to 40 cinemas in nearly 15 Saudi cities over the next five years, PIF and AMC said in a joint statement.

The two companies plan to operate 50 to 100 cinemas in nearly 25 Saudi cities by 2030.

The announcement came after Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information said it had granted its first cinema operating license to Development and Investment Entertainment Company in partnership with AMC to operate cinemas.

The decision to allow cinemas are part of wider liberalizing reforms under the Vision 2030 plan, which seeks to overhaul the economy and attract foreign investment. The cinema industry is expected to rise to around $1 billion in size over the coming years.

Development and Investment Entertainment Co. was fully incorporated early this year to play an active investment role in various areas of the entertainment sector, and seek to attract strategic partnerships to build the system of this sector within the country.

In December last year, PIF and AMC had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore commercial opportunities in the Kingdom’s entertainment sector.