Blockbuster US deal for Kiwi cinema firm

Kiwi cinema software developer Vista Group International has signed a deal with the second-largest theatre chain in the United States, AMC Theatres.

The terms of the multi-year agreement, signed through Vista's subsidiary company Movio, were confidential, although chief executive Murray Holdaway said it was a significant deal.

"It's good for Movio, good for Vista and with Regal and AMC now in the States, so two of the main four, they have well over 25 per cent of that total market," Holdaway said.

"It is definitely quite a significant deal so we're pretty happy about it," he said.

Shares in NZX-listed Vista closed up 20c, or 4 per cent, yesterday at $5.20.

Movio focuses on big data analytics through the collection of information from cinemas, and the deal would mean its products will be installed across AMC's 347 locations and 4972 screens in the US.

Founded in 1920 in Kansas, AMC (American Multi-Cinema) has more than 200 million customers annually.

Vista Entertainment bought an initial 30 per cent stake in Auckland-based Movio four years ago before increasing it to 56 per cent last year.

This gave Vista a commanding share in the business, after a year where Movio grew its revenue by 311 per cent and increased staff numbers from seven to 27.

Movio co-founder William Palmer said at the time of the acquisition that working with Vista had helped the company to expand.

"Building the partnership with Vista has been great, it's opened a lot of doors for us and now we have a symbiotic relationship where working together means we can tap into two markets not just one."

Movio collects information on a large scale, according to Palmer, with 90 per cent gathered at point-of-sale.

The data is used to help the cinema industry target movie campaigns - a part of sector which he said was worth more than $20 billion a year.