SHORT TAKES : Cineplex, Plitt Terminate Deal

Cineplex Odeon Corp. said today that it “terminated” its agreement to sell 38 theaters in the northwest United States to Plitt Amusement Co. Inc. of Los Angeles.

Cineplex said both parties agreed to kill the $31.75-million deal and that “the matter was settled on amicable terms.”

The deal, first announced in mid-June, included the sale of movie screens in Minnesota, Idaho, Utah, Washington and Oregon. In mid-August, the deal’s original closing date of July 31 was extended indefinitely.

At the same time, Cineplex said it would “pursue all available legal remedies” against Plitt if the sale was not completed.

Cineplex spokeswoman Jo Mira Clodman said the failed sale should be looked at “in the context of everything” else the company has done over the past eight or nine months to reduce its debt.

Cineplex has sold off numerous theaters and non-core businesses as part of a plan to restructure the company. The company currently operates 1,680 screens in 415 locations in Canada and the United States.

Clodman said the object of the asset sales was to restructure the company and although the sale to Plitt fell through, “there’s a variety of ways that we can get there.”

Cineplex’s long-term debt at the end of the second quarter was $479.4 million.