BLACKSTONE, Guy Hands, and Robert Tchenguiz emerged last night as the three shortlisted candidates to buy Odeon, Britain’s biggest cinema chain, The Times has learnt.
Terra Firma Capital Partners, the private equity company formed by Mr Hands in 2002, and Mr Tchenguiz, the Iranian property tycoon, are believed to be in competition with Blackstone, the US buyout firm, to take control of the cinema company, which was formally put up for sale in June.
Final bids for Odeon are due on Friday, with the sale price expected to value the chain at more than £380 million. That would be about £50 million less than the £430 million it was bought for in 2003, in a deal led by Robin Saunders, the former head of principal finance at WestLB, the German bank. Ms Saunders has been accused of overpaying for the business, which has been struggling under a debt mountain.
The news came as it emerged that Vue Entertainment, the company owned by Legal & General Ventures and which was formed last year by the merger of Warner Village and SBC International, and BC Partners, a private equity company, have pulled out of the running.
JP Morgan Partners also submitted an indicative offer for Odeon earlier but pulled out last month after buying AMC Entertainment, a US cinema group, for $1.67 billion.
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Meanwhile Mr Hands is also bidding for the UCI cinema chain. Market observers believe that he may be keen to merge it with Odeon to bring improved purchasing power and cost savings.
Odeon was put up for sale through Goldman Sachs and Citigroup after Mr Tchenguiz, who already owns 17.5 per cent, failed to agree a deal to buy the 43 per cent stake owned by WestLB.
The Entertainment Group, the film distributor owned by Nigel and Trevor Green, owns 22 per cent of Odeon and Guy Dellal, a private property investor, holds a 17.5 per cent stake.