Terra Firma 'considers Odeon sale'

The Odeon and UCI cinema group is being lined up for a potential £1bn (€1.13bn) sale by its private equity owner Terra Firma, according to reports today.

Terra Firma – which is run by financier Guy Hands – is understood to be close to appointing Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise it on a sale or a refinancing deal after receiving approaches for the cinema business.

It is also believed to have held talks with rival private equity group BC Partners.

Terra bought Odeon for €650m in 2004 and merged it with UCI, which it bought in the same year for €350m.

Profits from the UK’s biggest cinema chain rose 20% last year driven by the popularity of 3D releases such as Avatar.

Terra Firma recently lost a high profile court case with Citigroup, which it accused of duping it into paying too much money for record label label EMI, whose acts include Lily Allen and Robbie Williams.

Citigroup seized control of EMI in February after it failed to repay interest on loans used to buy the record label.