Independent cinema group Everyman Media will this week announce that it has acquired the chain of Screen Cinemas in London and the South East.

Everyman Media, which is best known for its luxurious cinema in Hampstead Village, North London, is backed by a consortium of deep-pocketed investors, including the entrepreneurs behind ASK pizza Sam and Adam Kay and the Lewis Trust, owners of River Island.

The deal will add seven new sites to the group, including London favourites Screen on the Green in Islington and the Screen on Baker Street.

In addition to this acquisition the group is developing a 20,000 square foot complex in Hammersmith that will house four cinema screens as well as a function room.

Everyman Media is the brainchild of entrepreneur Daniel Brock.

Brock bought a rundown cinema in Hampstead in 2001 and converted it into a unique space where viewers watch films from leather seats and have drinks and snacks served before and at the end of films. The cinema has even been frequented by filmstars such as Ewan MacGregor, Russell Crowe and the Oscar-winning director of The English Patient, Anthony Minghella.

Brock is understood to have a war chest of £100m with which he plans to open 50 new sites over the next five years.

Film industry stalwart Romaine Hart OBE is a major shareholder in Screen Cinemas, which appointed boutique bank Livingstone Partners to advise on its exit option two years ago.

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