THE Odeon cinema chain is to be sold in a potential £1bn deal.

Venture capital firm Terra Firma, which bought the business in 2004, says it might list the business on the Stock Exchange.

The combined Odeon and UCI Group would be marketed with an asking price of £1bn.

The group has 2,182 cinema screens in 237 UK locations, including the Odeon and ABC in Bournemouth’s Westover Road.

Odeon is signed up to the new West Central leisure development on the site of Bournemouth’s former bus station in Westover Road. The scheme would mean the closure of the two Westover Road cinemas.

Guy Hands, chairman of Terra Firma, said: “We will look to begin the process to sell Odeon towards the end of the year.

“We are likely to appoint banks by May. Possible buyers could include US cinema groups or South American cinema firms, and private equity groups from Europe, the US and China.”

He said a stock market listing was an option, although “the asset may lack scale for such a deal”.

The first Odeon opened in 1928 and the brand name was associated for most of its history with the Rank Group, which sold it at the turn of the 21st century.