Hoyts

At the start of the 20th century, Melbourne dentist and cornet player Arthur Russell[1] bought a share in a small touring American circus that visited Melbourne, called Hoyts Circus. Russell toured with the circus as a magician, but it did not prove to be a financial success. In 1908, he started presenting moving pictures at St George's Hall in Bourke Street,[2] accompanying the silent films with his small family band: his wife on piano, son on drums, and Russell on cornet. On 18 September 1909 he opened Hoyts Picture Palace,[1] and formed a company called Hoyts Pictures Pty Ltd. The old hall was rebuilt and renamed "Hoyts De Luxe". By the end of World War I, Hoyts had expanded into the suburbs of Melbourne and into Sydney.[2] The shows included vaudeville acts, as was common practice in those days.[1]

In 1926, Hoyts and two other companies, Electric Theatres Pty. Ltd. and Associated Theatres Pty. Ltd., merged to become Hoyts Theatres Limited. In 1930, the Fox Film Corporation (now 20th Century Studios) acquired a majority of shares in Hoyts Theatres Ltd.[3][4]

In 1982, 20th Century Fox sold Hoyts to Stardawn Investments, a group of four Melbourne businessmen. In 1985, the Fink family subsequently bought out the other partners to become the sole owner. In 1987, the corporation was restructured and two of the companies in the corporation were listed on the Australian Securities Exchange: Hoyts Media and Hoyts Entertainment. However, the company that owned the cinemas, Hoyts Cinemas, was not floated until 1996. The years between 1987 and 1996 saw Hoyts expand in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In 1988, Hoyts bought out Interstate Theaters, which made its expansion into the United States market.[5]

Following Leon Fink's death in 1993, the Hoyts organisation was sold to Hellman & Friedman and Lendlease. The company eventually went public in 1995. In 1999, Hoyts celebrated its 90th anniversary and was ranked the seventh largest cinema exhibitor in the world. In the same year, the late Kerry Packer's private family company, Consolidated Press Holdings, bought the chain for $620 million. After that, Hoyts began to sell off international cinemas except for some New Zealand cinemas.

In 2003, Hoyts sold all of its US chains to Regal Entertainment Group.[6][7] In 2004, Hoyts joined forces with Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings Limited to bail out Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, eventually taking their stake to 100% in 2005. In December that year, Publishing & Broadcasting Limited and West Australian Newspapers purchased the company from Consolidated Press. In 2007, Hoyts was sold to Sydney-based private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners. The sale valued the company at A$440 million.

In 2010, Hoyts acquired Australian Multiplex Cinemas in Queensland and the Berkeley Cinema Group in New Zealand. Hoyts Stream, a video streaming service, was set to launch during 2013, but after being delayed, it was cancelled in 2014.[8][9] Damian Keogh was appointed chief executive officer, and Hoyts was bought by Chinese billionaire Sun Xishuang through his investment company ID Leisure Ventures in December 2014.[10]

In June 2015, Wanda Cinema Line, a subsidiary of Dalian Wanda Group, purchased Hoyts from ID Leisure Ventures.[10]

In 2018, Hoyts Kiosk DVD vending machines were rebranded as Video Ezy after the group sold its subsidiary.[11]

In Argentina Hoyts was acquired by Cinemark, in Chile by Cinépolis, and in Uruguay by Life Cinemas.

In December 2022, Hoyts acquired three cinemas in WA from Grand Cinemas after the company went into administration.[12] In April 2023, they acquired an additional cinema from Grand.[13] That month, Wanda Cinema Line also began seeking buyers for Hoyts.[14][15]