European Cinema Chain Vue Entertainment Sold For $1.45B

Canadian investment groups OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation will pay £935M ($1.45B) for pan-European multiplex operator Vue Entertainment. Vue’s current owner, private equity firm Doughty Hanson, acquired the group in 2010 for £450M and expanded its holdings at home and abroad with the acquisitions of Britain’s Apollo Cinemas, Germany’s CinemaxX, and, most recently, Poland’s Multikino. The company now has 146 cinemas and 1,321 screens. The transaction is expected to close by late July. Vue founder and CEO, Tim Richards, will stay with the business.