LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) – Private equity group Doughty Hanson has sold cinema operator Vue Entertainment to two Canadian investment groups for 935 million pounds ($1.45 billion), more than double its initial investment.
The sale, to OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation, is expected to close by late July, Doughty Hanson said on Monday.
Doughty Hanson paid 450 million pounds for Vue in December 2010 and has since pursued an aggressive expansion drive beyond the cinema company’s UK home market.
Its reach was boosted by three acquisitions of rival cinema chains in Britain, Germany and Poland.
In a separate statement Mark Redman, Senior Managing Director and Head of Europe for OMERS Private Equity said the new ownership gave Vue “the distinct advantage of patient capital and deep pockets for organic and acquisitive growth.”
Doughty Hanson sells Vue Entertainment for 935 mln stg
