POOLE’S Empire cinema is being sold to the Cineworld chain.

The 16-screen multiplex at Tower Park will be rebranded as a Cineworld after the announcement that it was one of five acquired in a £94million deal.

Cineworld Group revealed on Thursday it had bought five multiplexes from Cinema Holdings Limited, the company that towns the Empire venues.

The others are London’s Empire Leicester Square and multiplexes in Basildon, Hemel Hempstead and Bromley.

The new owner says there is no need to spend more money on its new cinemas, as all have state of the art equipment already.

The deal sees Cineworld sell its own venue at London’s Haymarket to Empire and pay a total of £94m, half in cash and half in Cineworld shares.

Mooky Greidinger, chief executive officer of Cineworld, said: "This acquisition brings Cineworld five modern and well invested venues complementary to our existing estate, including the iconic Leicester Square cinema in the heart of London's West End.

“It underscores our commitment to operating high quality and modern cinemas across all of our nine operating countries, and our mission to be the best place to watch a movie.

“I'm delighted that the Anderson family, well-known cinema industry veterans, have entrusted these sites to us. We welcome them as shareholders in Cineworld and look forward to delivering increased returns to all of our investors from integrating these cinemas into our group."

Thomas Anderson, chairman of Empire, said: "I'm pleased to have found the ideal partner in Cineworld to buy these sites. Their reputation as good operators gives me confidence in a bright future for the cinemas and their employees, and as a shareholder in Cineworld, I trust the company's ownership will enable it to maximise the value of these premium assets as part of its continued growth."

Tower Park’s cinema opened as a 10-screen UCI multiplex in 1989.

It was acquired by Empire in 2004, when UCI and Odeon Cinemas were bought by Terra Firma Capital Partners and six venues had to be sold as a condition of the merger.

Odeon & UCI Cinema Group was sold earlier this month to the Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda , which owns Poole’s luxury boat builder Sunseeker, in a deal worth £921m.