Carmike to buy Robert Redford’s Sundance Cinemas

Carmike Cinemas, the nation’s fourth-largest theater chain, has agreed to buy Robert Redford’s Sundance Cinemas for $36 million.

Carmike, based in Columbus, Ga., said it had signed an agreement to purchase five theaters with 37 screens, including the Sundance Sunset in West Hollywood, as well as theaters in San Francisco, Houston, Dallas and Seattle.

David Passman, Carmike’s chief executive, said the theaters would have little overlap with the chain’s current locations.

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“Sundance has been enormously successful in creating a compelling consumer experience and shares our mission and vision of offering a world-class movie-going experience, including an impressive premium dining offering,” Passman said in a statement.

Billing itself as “America’s Hometown Theatre Chain,” Carmike has 274 theaters with 2,909 screens in 41 states. Carmike was among the first circuits to convert to a digital format.

The sale comes four months after Sundance Cinemas hired the investment bank Salem Partners to find a buyer for the small Los Angeles-based theater chain.

Sundance Cinemas is among several entertainment entities overseen by Redford, including the Sundance Channel and the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

The celebrated actor, producer and director is part-owner of Sundance Cinemas but is no longer an executive of the company.

Executives have declined to specify the reasons for the planned sale, but a person close to the company said private equity backers were looking to cash out their investment. L.A.-based Oaktree Capital Management is the primary investor in Sundance.

The chain was launched in 2005 and operates five high-end theaters mainly devoted to independent movies, including the 630-seat Sunset Sundance Cinema in West Hollywood that opened in 2012.

Redford’s company invested $2 million to renovate the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.