The name Douglas Theatres has been synonymous with movies in Lincoln for more than 50 years.

But that’s going to change next month.

Marcus Corp. of Milwaukee announced Wednesday it has agreed to acquire most of Douglas’ assets for $40.5 million. The sale is expected to close next month.

The sale includes the Grand, East Park, Edgewood and Southpointe theaters in Lincoln, as well as Omaha theaters the 20 Grand and Village Pointe, and the Twin Creek theaters in Bellevue.

The seven theaters have 83 screens combined. Douglas has about 500 full- and part-time employees.

Douglas will continue to operate the Cinema Center Theatre in Omaha for an undetermined length of time, and will also close, but continue to own, the Cinema 9 property in Omaha.

The deal also includes an agreement by Marcus to buy an additional site for the development of a theater near Cabela’s in La Vista for about $4.4 million, and an option to buy another undeveloped site on North 27th Street in Lincoln.

In a news release,  Stephen H. Marcus, chairman and chief executive officer of The Marcus Corp., said the purchase of Douglas made sense for his company.

“Douglas Theatres’ high-quality facilities and excellent locations are comparable to Marcus Theatres in our current six-state region, making this a great fit for our company,” he said.

Marcus, a publicly traded company, operates 595 screens in  Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, North Dakota and Iowa, making it the seventh-largest company in the nation.

Douglas is the 42nd-largest theater company in the country.

John Decker, Douglas’ chief financial officer, said the company’s relatively small size was one of the reasons for the sale.

It’s becoming harder and harder for a small company like Douglas to compete with large chains like Marcus that can operate hundreds of theaters with a small staff, he said.

Also, Decker said Russell Brehm, who co-founded the company, was looking at options for estate planning.

In a news release, Brehm said he expected Marcus to carry on the “the tradition of excellence” Douglas has established.

“Marcus Theatres will serve our communities with the many resources available to a larger company and will provide the same dedication to our customers and associates that has been a hallmark of Douglas for over 55 years,” Brehm said. 

Carlo Petrick, a Marcus spokesman, said theatergoers will see only minor changes, and those will occur gradually.

Marcus won’t keep members of Douglas’ top management, but Decker said he understood it would retain workers.

Marcus’ human resources department will work those details out, Petrick said.

Decker said he, Brehm, CEO and President David Livingston and Vice President Debby Brehm will also continue a real estate venture called Center Associates LLC, in addition to continuing to run the one theater in Omaha.

Its first order of business will be to develop the Cinema 9 property at 120th and Q streets in Omaha into an office park.

In Lincoln, the company owns land near 84th and O and the downtown building at 201 N. 13th that is Douglas’ corporate headquarters.

It also owns land on North 27th Street that Marcus has the option to buy.

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.