Edwards Theatres Gets Fresh Cash

ORANGE COUNTY, CA-Ending weeks of speculation, troubled Newport Beach-based Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. says it has signed a letter of intent that calls for a cash infusion from a group of investors that includes Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz.

Edwards Theatres is California’s largest theater chain. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August and soon began closing several of its movie houses, saying it was saddled with hundreds of millions in debt and reeling from the effects of an industrywide building binge that had gone on for five years.

GlobeSt.com reported last month that Anschutz, the Denver oil and railroad billionaire who also owns hockey’s Los Angeles Kings, was seeking to make an investment in Edwards. Anschutz already owns a large position in the debt of United Artists Theater Co. that could ultimately give him control of UA, and also has been accumulating the debt of Tennessee-based Regal Cinemas.