Picturehouse founder Lyn Goleby has held talks with London-based Vue International, a reported bidder for Cineworld, about buying back the chain that was sold to the bankrupt cinema operator in 2012, Sky News said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain operator, is currently under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has failed to find a buyer for the whole company. Sky News last month reported that Vue was among the bidders for Cineworld assets. On Tuesday, it said the sale of cinema chain Picturehouse could aid Vue from a competition perspective given its status as one of Britain's biggest cinema operators. Goleby, who co-founded Picturehouse Cinemas in 1989, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through networking platform LinkedIn. Along with exploring a sale, Cineworld is also looking at a possible plan of reorganization to fix its debt-ridden balance sheet, but neither exit path would see shareholders recover their equity interest. The company, which owns Regal in the U.S., bought U.K.-based independent movie theater operator Picturehouse for 47.3 million pounds ($56.71 million) in 2012.
