NEW YORK CITY-Media giant Viacom is selling Famous Players, its Canadian theater chain, to Cineplex Galaxy, another operator of cinemas north of the border for C$500 million (approximately $400 million). The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, will nearly double Cineplex Galaxy's unit count.

Cineplex Galaxy currently operates 86 theaters with 775 screens in Canada's six provinces. Sixty-four of them are Cineplex Odeon Cinemas, located in urban areas, and 22 are under the Galaxy Cinema name and are in mid-sized markets.

Famous Players theaters are operated under the Coliseum, Colossus, Paramount and SilverCity names. As part of the deal Toronto-based Cineplex Galaxy has agreed, through Canada's Commissioner of Competition, to divest of 35 locations with 284 screens. Last year Famous Players had reported revenues of C$520 million, and Cineplex Galaxy pulled in C$354 million.

The acquisition gives Cineplex Galaxy an additional 81 units with 787 screens across Canada. Onex Corp. and Oaktree Capital Management own a controlling interest in publicly traded Cineplex Galaxy. In 2003, it sold Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp., their company with 281 theaters worldwide, mostly in the US, to Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Advisors for $1.5 billion.

Viacom is the owner of CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures and other well-known entertainment entities. The company also owns Paramount Parks, five theme parks across North America with 13 million annual visitors.