In an acquisition as impressive as their 2015 purchase of Brady Distributing, Canada’s Cineplex Entertainment will now be buying all shares of the giant Tricorp Amusements route combine. Based out of Somerset, N.J., Tricorp was founded by Chuck Peitz over 35 years ago and stands as one of America’s largest street location routes which also operates in FECs, theaters, bowling centers, casinos and other public entertainment venues.
Tricorp presently employs around 100 people and operates in over 20 states out of five regional distribution centers across the eastern seaboard. After the sale goes through, Peitz and his next-in-command Joe Ingui will continue to lead the company. Cineplex itself has 16 offices in Canada and the U.S.A. operating as Cineplex Starburst, Brady Starburst, Premier Amusements and Playdium.
Tricorp’s Chuck Peitz (right) and Joe Ingui at last spring’s Amusement Expo.
The deal is scheduled to close in early October (financial terms were not disclosed). It will make Tricorp part of Cineplex Starburst Inc. (which itself is a wholly-owned and operated subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment based in Toronto).
“Along with Premier, as well as through strategic mergers and acquisitions like Brady Starburst last year, our company has become one of the leading operators and distributors of amusement equipment across North America,” declared Cineplex CEO Elis Jacob.
Said Chuck Pietz: “This is exciting because it will offer Tricorp more opportunities to do business in a much broader and expanded market in North America,” hinting quite broadly at his intention to continue to grow Tricorp, perhaps even on a more rapid scale. And speaking of “scale,” among the numerous businesses Cineplex also runs in Canada itself are 163 movie theaters under their Cineplex Cinemas umbrella.
Cineplex can be found on the web here; Tricorp’s website link is here.
