Germans buy Odeon Cinemas
by Annika Pham
- Consortium of banks and property developers buy British chain for reported Euros 627m
A syndicate led by German investment bank, WestLB, property developers, the Rotch Property Group and the UK’s leading independent distributor, Entertainment Film Distributors has bought the United Kingdom’s biggest cinema circuit, Odeon Cinemas, for a reported £431m (Euros627m).
The deal was finalised last weekend with private equity finance company, Cinven. The new owners now have 608 screens spread throughout the UK, including the flagship 2000-seat-capacity Odeon Leicester Square, situated in London’s West End, and home to numerous royal premieres as well as
this year’s BAFTA awards.
Founded in 1930, the Odeon chain was bought by the Rank Group in 1942 who sold it to Cinven three years ago. Cinven then merged Odeon with ABC cinemas which it bought for £65m (Euros95,656m).
The United Kingdom currently numbers 3,226 screens at 659 sites and admissions are at the highest level for a decade (176m in 2002).
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