Cinven, one of Europe’s leading providers of private equity for larger European buyouts, today announces that it has sold Odeon Cinemas (“Odeon” or “the Company”) to a syndicate of investors led by WestLB AG and the Entertainment Group for €628 million (£430.6 million).
Odeon was acquired from The Rank Group by Cinven in February 2000 and merged with Cinven’s existing investment in ABC Cinemas.
Since 2000, all the operations have been consolidated under the Odeon brand. As a result of a £75 million modernisation, refurbishment and new-build programme, Odeon now operates from 97 mutiplex and city centre sites in the UK which, in combination, provide 608 screens of film entertainment.
Since the merger of Odeon and ABC in 2000, Odeon has grown strongly. In the year ended 31 December 2002, the Company achieved turnover of £212 million and EBITDA of £46.6 million.
UBS Warburg and Morgan Stanley advised Cinven on the sale.
Commenting on this disposal Richard Munton, a director of Cinven said:
“When we invested in Odeon, we backed a plan to drive the business forward through investment in both new multiplexes and the existing cinema portfolio. This was in line with Cinven’s strategy of finding growth opportunities in market leading companies.
“We are clearly delighted that the management team has delivered on this business plan with consequent positive effects on the financial performance of the business. Odeon has been a very successful investment for us and we wish the company well for the future.”
Gordon Moore, a non-executive director of Odeon and Investment Director of Cinven commented:
“Having recognised both the unique features of the UK cinema market and the value to be created through the merger of Odeon and ABC, early in 2000 Cinven backed an excellent management team led by Richard Segal. The business has performed well such that today, Odeon is the strong UK market leader which is reflected in the value achieved in this sale.”
Richard Segal, Chief Executive of Odeon, added:
“Over the last 3 years, with Cinven’s active support Odeon’s management team has moved forward the business considerably and created a very robust brand in the cinema market place. The company is now set to capitalise on market opportunities from an extremely sound base".