--- title: Imax Corporation Signs Major International Expansion Deal publisher: "IMAX" description: "2525 Speakman Drive Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5K 1B1 Tel: (905) 403-6500 Fax: (905) 403-6450 www.imax.com Company signs Agreement with E-Citi Entertainment, part of India’s Leading Entertainment Company, to Build a Minimum of Six and Up to 20 IMAX Theatres In India Toronto, Canada, September" canonical: "https://www.imax.com/pr/imax-corporation-signs-major-international-expansion-deal" date: 2000-09-28 last_updated: 2000-11-02 --- Imax Corporation Signs Major International Expansion Deal ========================================================= Thu, Sep 28, 2000 2525 Speakman Drive Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5K 1B1 Tel: (905) 403-6500 Fax: (905) 403-6450 www.imax.com Company signs Agreement with E-Citi Entertainment, part of India’s Leading Entertainment Company, to Build a Minimum of Six and Up to 20 IMAX Theatres In India Toronto, Canada, September 28, 2000 – Imax Corporation (Imax) (Nasdaq: IMAX; TSE: IMX) today announced that it signed an agreement with E-Citi Entertainment Pvt. Limited, a subsidiary of the ESSEL Group of Industries, for a minimum of six IMAX® theatres to open over the next four years and an option to build up to 20 IMAX® theatres in India. This is Imax’s most significant theatre contract signing to date in the South-Asian market and is yet another key step in the Company’s international expansion. E-Citi is in the process of setting up integrated Family Entertainment Centers throughout India and is targeting 23 cities in the first phase of the plan. “We are very pleased to partner with E-Citi on this important deal,” said Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler, Co-CEOs of Imax Corporation. “This agreement represents the strong interest that the Company continues to garner in international markets. In spite of the reorganization and consolidation which is taking place with North American commercial exhibitors, Imax’s international expansion remains strong.” The ESSEL Group of Industries is a multi-billion dollar conglomerate with media holdings including Zee Telefilms, India’s leading satellite TV broadcaster, Siti Cable, one of India’s leading cable networks and Zee Cinema, the nation's first -- and only -- Hindi-movie pay channel as well as real estate and industrial holdings. Messrs. Gelfond and Wechsler continued “E-Citi and the ESSEL Group of Industries is the largest media company in India and among Imax’s strongest partners around the world. ESSEL’s significant media presence in India will help to lay the foundation for the future success of its IMAX theatres in India. We are very excited about this agreement.” Separately, Imax today confirmed that its previously reported process to explore strategic alternatives to maximize value for Imax shareholders, including a possible sale of the Company, is proceeding. Imax said that the disclosure of further details regarding this process would be inappropriate and that the Company does not intend to make any further comments on the process until its conclusion. ESSEL Group’s media properties include Zee Telefilms, India's first private TV satellite broadcaster and the undisputed market leader with seven channels and a claimed viewership of 25 million homes; Siti Cable, a television distribution company with approximately three million subscribers in some 40 Indian cities; Zee Cinema, the nation's first -- and only -- Hindi-movie pay channel; ESSEL World, a 300-hectare amusement park which is located on the outskirts of business capital Bombay and receives some 1.5 million visitors each year; a full-fledged world-class animation film institute, based in the southern Indian city of Mumbai; and Zee Publishing, a media company that recently began publishing TV World, India's first television listings magazine. ESSEL Group also includes Essel Packaging, India's first -- and the world's second-largest -- manufacturer of squeezable plastic tubes, with plants in China, Egypt and Germany; Suncity Projects, a real estate company; Essel Shyam, a satellite firm that transmits high-speed data, voice and video to a range of subscribers, including news companies, police, race course brokers and high-spending individuals; and Zee Interactive Education, which offers vocational education over the Internet. Imax Corporation and its subsidiaries comprise one of the world’s leading entertainment technology companies, with particular emphasis on film and digital imaging technologies, including giant-screen images, 3D presentations, digital post-production and digital projection. There were more than 220 IMAX theatres operating in 26 countries around the world as of June 30, 2000. Imax’s subsidiaries include Digital Projection International, whose primary business is the design and manufacture of high-end digital image delivery devices, and Sonics Associates, a designer and manufacturer of high-end sound systems. Imax has forged strategic alliances and relationships with some of the most prominent corporations in the world including Famous Players Inc. (a subsidiary of Viacom Inc.), America Online Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. Imax Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on both the Toronto and Nasdaq stock exchanges. More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com. This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on management assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could effect these statements include the timing of theatre system deliveries, the mix of theatre systems shipped, the timing of the recognition of revenues and expenses on film production and distribution agreements, the viability of new businesses and foreign currency fluctuations. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and in the subsequent reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. IMAX® and The IMAX Experience® are registered trademarks of Imax Corporation. For additional information please contact: Imax Corporation, Toronto Victoria Dinnick 905-403-6366 vdinnick@imax.com Imax Corporation, New York Stephen Abraham (Analysts) Tel: 212-821-0140 Sabraham@imax.com Newman & Company, Los Angeles Al Newman (Entertainment Media) 310-777-5252 asn@newman-co.com Edelman Financial, New York Gina Stikes 212-642-7702 gina\_stikes@edelman.com