Odeon

Founded in 1930 by Oscar Deutsch, ODEON was acquired in 1941 by J Arthur Rank who had interests in film production and distribution. ODEON remained a part of The Rank Organisation for a further 58 years. An extensive re-branding campaign in 1998 further re-enforced ODEON's position as market leader in the UK and introduced "Fanatical About Film" to the UK cinema-goer. The re-branding and refurbishment campaign culminated in the £3million upgrade of the flagship cinema, the ODEON Leicester Square.

On the 21st February 2000, ODEON was sold to Cinven, who merged the newly re-branded ODEON chain with their existing ABC cinema chain. The resulting chain of cinemas were all re-branded and ODEON enjoyed over two years of continuing positive growth.

Following this success, Cinven sold ODEON to a consortium of investors early in 2003. The principal partners in the purchase were WestLB, The Entertainment Group and Robert Tchenguiz of Rotch.

More recently, private equity firm Terra Firma (link will open new browser window) acquired ODEON in September 2004, and United Cinemas International in October 2004. Terra Firma, together with its predecessor organisation have invested about £4 billion in a variety of businesses across Europe over recent years. As a result, ODEON is looking forward to an exciting period of development during which it will continue to build on its unique position as the UK's number one cinema chain.

United Cinemas International operates cinemas in Ireland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy and Portugal. The UCI and thefilmworks cinemas in the UK have now changed their name to ODEON.