Ster-Kinekor

Last updated
Ster-Kinekor
Company type Public
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1969
HeadquartersSouth Africa,
Sandton
,
South Africa
Number of locations
53
Website https://sterkinekor.com

Ster-Kinekor is a South African-based cinema company, and the country's largest movie exhibitor. Its head office is at the Ster-Kinekor Office Park in Sandton, Johannesburg. [1]

Contents

History


Ster-Kinekor was founded following the sale of 20th Century Fox's South African cinema business to Sanlam in 1969. [2] However the company's origins stretch back to the first showing of some of the first movies in South Africa at the Herwoods Arcade in1895 and the Empire Palace of Varieties in Johannesburg in 1896. [3] [4] In the 1930s the African Theatres Trust merged with Kinemas to form African Consolidated Theatres Ltd, which in turn was acquired by 20th Century Fox in 1955. [4]

Market share

As of 2024 the company has 47 cinema complexes in South Africa with an additional 6 cinema complexes in Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. [5]

Ster-Kinekor holds the largest market share of cinemas in South Africa, followed by Nu Metro Cinemas. Smaller, independent operators, including CineCentre, Movies@, and Epic Cinemas, make up the rest of the market. [6]

In 2021, following losses attributed to the COVID 19 pandemic, the company filed for "business rescue" and was acquired by investment firms 'Blantyre Capital' and 'Green Point Capital'. [7] 2024 saw the closedown and consolidation of additional cinemas. [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us." Ster-Kinekor. Retrieved on 27 September 2011. "Physical Address: Ster-Kinekor Office Park 185 Katherine Street Eastgate Ext.4 Sandton"
  2. ↑ Admin (2022-03-14). "The Rise & Fall of Ster-Kinekor Theaters". Entrepreneur Hub SA. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  3. ↑ "Ster-Kinekor celebrates 127 years of multisensory cinema in SA". BusinessLIVE. Archived from the original on 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  4. 1 2 "The 130-year-old South African company that remains a household name in entertainment" . Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  5. ↑ affluencer (2024-04-19). "History of Ster-Kinekor in South Africa". AffluenceR. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  6. ↑ "Ster-Kinekor vs Nu Metro: movie ticket prices in South Africa". BusinessTech. 16 Jan 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  7. ↑ Larkin, Philippa (1 March 2022). "Hope for Ster Kinekor exit from business rescue in sight". IOL. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Seleme, Rae (2024-04-18). "129 years: History of Ster-Kinekor in South Africa". The South African. Retrieved 2025-09-18.