The company started its operation in 1995 as joint venture between ITI Cinema and
British UCI. In 2003 ITI bought the UCI shares and owned the company until 2013. As Multikino was the first company to run multiplex cinemas in
Poland, the term
multikino is often used as a description of multiplex cinema. The situation resembles the one with
Sony's
Walkman, when it is used as a description for portable
CC player, despite it being a registered trademark. In February 2008 it was announced that Multikino would merge with its second largest rival,
Silver Screen. Once the transaction was complete, Multikino operated 19 cinemas with 174 screens in 13 Polish cities. There were also plans to enter the Ukrainian market, but due to global crisis it has never happened. In August 2008, Multikino have installed digital projectors in each cinema. That allows viewing of 3D movies in
Dolby 3D Digital Cinema. In 2010, Multikino opened the first cinema network outside Polish borders in
Riga -
Latvia (August 2010) and in
Vilnius -
Lithuania (September 2010). In May 2013,
Vue Entertainment acquired Polish Multikino. The acquisition was completed in October 2013. == Locations ==