Vista Group International (NZX & ASX: VGL), the world’s leading software provider to the global film industry delivering software solutions for studios, distributors, exhibitors, and moviegoers internationally,is delighted to announce that it has reached agreement with its long-term Latin American business partner Senda Dirección Tecnológica, SA de CV. (‘Senda’) to take a controlling 60 percent share in Senda.  With Senda becoming a full member of the Vista Group family, it will be renamed Vista Latin America and continue to be run by its founders and managers, Armando Mejias and Gustavo Ortega.

Senda is the reseller for Vista Group companies, Vista Entertainment Solutions (‘VES’) and Movio and has been a Vista reseller since 2003. Senda represents VES and Movio in Mexico, Central and South America including Brazil, the fifth largest cinema market in the world.  As the reseller in Latin America, Senda is the key conduit to three of the world’s largest cinema circuits: Cinepolis, Cinemex and Cinemark, which between them run 8,500 screens in the region and 13,500 screens worldwide. These three customers are significant to the revenue of both VES and Movio.

Announcing the agreement, Vista Group CEO Murray Holdaway praised the trusted, fruitful relationship that Vista Group has with Senda and said the acquisition of a majority stake was a logical step for both Vista and Senda.

“I’m absolutely delighted that our hugely valuable business partners and long-time colleagues Armando Meijas and Gustavo Ortega have agreed that Senda should join the Vista family. Creating Vista Latin America with Senda opens up tremendous opportunities not only in South America, but also in the USA,” says Mr Holdaway.

VES CEO Kimbal Riley says the acquisition of Senda and formation of Vista Latin America will enable Vista to consolidate revenues and profits and build closer relationships with three  of the world’s largest cinema exhibition markets. “With Senda recently taking over responsibility for Brazil on behalf of Vista, our ability to continue our expansion into one of the world’s largest cinema markets will be accelerated,” says Mr Riley.

Movio CEO Will Palmer says: “Central and Latin America are high growth territories for Movio. We have secured Cinepolis and Cinemark in the region, and bringing the incredible Senda team into Vista Group will strengthen our ability to support further expansion.”

Both Armando Mejias and Gustavo Ortego also expressed their delight at the agreement.

”Senda is proud to become part of this important group and we are sure it will result in synergies that will consolidate Vista Group’s presence in Latin America and generate important new value for our customers,” says Armando Mejias.

“Since the beginning of our business relationship in 2003, both companies have shared the same values and vision on business; I think this new relationship will provide great results for Vista Group, Senda and our customers as well as additional opportunities within our region,” says Gustavo Ortega.

About Vista Group International:

Vista Group International (Vista Group) is a public company, listed on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges (NZX & ASX: VGL). Vista Group provides cinema management, film distribution and customer analytics software to companies across the global film industry. Cinema management software is provided by Vista Entertainment Solutions, the core business of the Group. Movio (authority in moviegoer data analytics), Veezi (cloud-based SaaS software for the Independent Cinema Market), Maccs (film distribution software), Numero (box office reporting software for film distributors and cinemas), Cinema Intelligence (business intelligence solutions), POWSTER (creative studio and marketing platform for movie studios) and Flicks (moviegoer ‘go to’ portal for movie information) provide products that leverage the success of this platform for  other parts of the film industry, from production and distribution, to cinema exhibition through to the moviegoer experience. Vista Group has more than 500 staff across offices in New Zealand (Auckland headquarters), Sydney, Los Angeles, Dallas, London, South Africa, the Netherlands, Romania and China.

Website: www.vistagroup.co

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vista-group-limited

About Vista Entertainment Solutions:

Vista Entertainment Solutions Ltd (VES) is the world leader in cinema management software solutions with installations in more than 80  countries around the world  and an estimated 38% global market share in the Large Cinema Circuit market. The VES software product line comprises multiple modules  both integrated and scalable, suited to cinema exhibitor’s operating 20+ screens and up to 100s of cinemas. VES is head-quartered in Auckland, New Zealand and has subsidiaries incorporated in Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Beijing and Cape Town.

Website: www.vista.co
Twitter:   @VistaCinema
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/vista-entertainment-solutions

About Movio

Movio is the global leader in marketing data analytics and campaign management software for cinema exhibitors, film distributors and studios around the world. A company of Vista Group International Ltd (NZX & ASX: VGL), Movio is revolutionizing the way the film industry interacts with moviegoers. The company maintains real-time, authoritative data on customer transactions for many of the world’s biggest cinema chains and captures the behavior of millions of active moviegoers worldwide. Movio operates in North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, and South-East Asia. Movio was named winner of the “Innovative Software Product” award at the 2016 annual New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards.  Movio Cinema, Movio’s flagship product, holds comprehensive marketing data covering 56 percent of cinema screens of the Large Cinema Circuit in North America and 29 percent globally accounting for 39+ million active moviegoers.  Movio Media has been a game changer for every major American film studio and distributor, providing comprehensive market data on the demographics and behavior of moviegoers, crucial audience insights and innovative campaign solutions. The Movio Media technology offers the most powerful and most accurate near real-time film market research platform in the United States.

Website: www.movio.co

Twitter: @MovioHQ

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/movio

About Senda Dirección Tecnológica, SA de CV:

Senda Dirección Tecnológica, SA de CV. is a Mexican company with 15 years experience in the direction of high technology projects and strategy. Founded in Mexico City in 2002 by Armando Mejias and Gustavo Ortega, Senda delivers the best practices and integral solutions to different business sectors. Since 2003, Senda has distributed Vista software in Mexico and in 14 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Website: http://sendamexico.azurewebsites.net/

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/SENDAmexico

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/2286553/

Press Contacts:

Vista Group International/Auckland, NZ
Christine Fenby
christine.fenby@vista.co; +64 21 727 006