Although acknowledging that it wasn't able to meet last Friday's deadline to make payments on its $750 million line of credit, exhibitor Loews Cineplex Entertainment said on Friday that it would continue to run normally while engaging in talks with lenders about its liquidity needs. However, the company said that if the lenders decide to declare the loans due and payable, it would be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is already considering plans to sell some of its theaters and lease them back -- a strategy that UBS Warburg analyst Chris Dixon described as "a stop gap to more fundamental downsizing."

Source: Studio Briefing