Japanese supermarket group Mycal is planning to float Warner Mycal, its joint exhibition venture with Warner Bros International Theatres, on the Tokyo stock exchange in autumn 2002, sources have revealed.

Mycal aims to raise from $545m (Y60bn) to $636m (Y70bn) from the IPO, as part of a company restructuring plan to reduce its debt load. Although the float is still in the early planning stages, the company is considering a private offering of corporate bonds prior to the float, to put a floor under the share price. This issue would be limited to 10%-20% of Warner Mycal's total share value.

Warner Mycal launched Japan's first true multiplex in 1993 in a suburb of Yokohama. By the end of this year, it will be managing 315 screens and 42 sites, making it the largest chain of directly managed theatres in Japan. It expects admissions at its theatres to total 20 million in 2000, giving it a 13% share of the projected 150 million total. Meanwhile, six more sites, with 40 screens, are scheduled to open in 2001.