Despite buying a 80% stake in Megastar Vietnam, South Korea’s CJ-CGV will not bring too many of its own films to the country, according to the theatre management.
Brian Hall, Chairman of Megastar
Brian Hall, Chairman of Megastar Vietnam, the country’s top cinema chain, told DTiNews that CJ-CGV would not show South Korean films excessively within the Megastar chain.
After the contract was signed, South Korea’s CJ-CGV has now held an 80% stake in the company. Will they become the main operator of the Megastar chain?
After the contract was signed, CJ-CGV has become a foreign investor of Megastar, with a majority stake.
A representative of Megastar told the press that the sale would not affect Megastar’s operations and policies. But people are still wondering about this. South Korea is among the leading film producers in Asia. Could CJ-CGV use its majority stake to promote Korean films?
No, as we have already said, purchase would not affect operations at Megastar. Nothing will change in the company’s leadership. I will continue to act as a chairman, Ms. Phan Thi Le will be still vice chairman, and Mr. Lim Eng Hee will remain general director.
If we suspect that CJ CGV intends to change the format or strategy, which we have already established, we would not go along with it. So far our strategy has been working very well. At the same time, CJ CGV is a company with great experience in the film industry in several markets outside of South Korea. We believe that their intention is to service the local Vietnamese audience.
It would not be a good business decision to try and force Vietnamese audiences to watch South Korean films, and CJ CGV recognises that.
Last year, Megastar was sued by six Vietnamese film companies for unfair competition. The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Competition Management Department had to carry out an investigation, but has yet to come to any final decision. Will this be taken into account during contract negotiations with CJ-CGV?
These lawsuits will have no bearing on our contract negotiations. The dispute is against Megastar itself, not potential investors.
American films dominated Megastar whild U.S. investors held the majority stake
Change of investors, change in format?
