Digital-cinema provider XDC and Fortis Bank signed a mandate letter and an indicative term sheet to structure and arrange a 100 million euro financing package in order to support XDC's first-phase rollout of digital cinema in Europe by early 2009.

Upon closing, the financing package will position XDC as a major player in the European market. Serge Plasch, CEO and managing director of XDC, stated, “This financial support is the missing link and we’re about to get it. The first step was to finalize the VPF deals with the studios. The second step is the signature of the first contracts with exhibitors and obtaining the support of European distributors, which we have already begun with Cineplexx in Austria. This agreement with Fortis Bank will give our company the financial power to complete the first phase of the rollout with more than 2,000 screens.”

Pierre Flamant, VP of finance and administration for XDC, declared, “We worked very closely with Fortis Bank over the last months to design the most appropriate financial structure to the digital-cinema deployment agreements signed with the six Hollywood studios. XDC will now have the adequate financing to execute its ambitious business plan. Our team of more than 50 experts fully dedicated to digital-cinema products and services is very enthusiastic to start the rollout of digital systems. We are 100% determined to remain the leading pan-European service company for digital cinema and we are fully confident we will complete our global mandate for supplying 8,000 screens all over Europe."