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 Trading in Cineplex Odeon Corp. shares was halted on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges late yesterday afternoon at the company's request,
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 Toronto Stock Exchange officials said.
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 Brian Hemming, a spokesman for the company's committee of independent directors,
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 established in May 
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to solicit and evaluate offers for the company,
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 said 
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it was expected to make an announcement early this morning.
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 But Mr. Hemming said
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 he wasn't aware of the nature of the talks under way between committee members and their advisers.
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 Cineplex traded on the New York Stock Exchange at $11.25 a share, up $1.125,
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 before trading was halted.
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 Analysts have speculated in recent days 
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that the value of offers
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 received by the committee
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 fell well short of what they had hoped,
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 or even that the company's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Garth Drabinsky, is the only bidder for the company as a whole.
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 The current effort
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 to auction off the company
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 was triggered by a dispute between Mr. Drabinsky and the Toronto-based movie chain's major shareholder, MCA Inc.
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