Terra Firma to launch sale of cinema chain Odeon & UCI

By Freya Berry and Arno Schuetze

BERLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Private equity group Terra Firma is planning to launch the sale of its European cinema chain Odeon & UCI Group towards the end of the year in a potential 1 billion pound ($1.55 billion) deal, its chairman told Reuters.

"We will look to begin the process to sell Odeon towards the end of the year," Guy Hands said on Wednesday.

"We are likely to appoint banks by May. Possible buyers could include U.S. cinema groups or South American cinema firms, and private equity groups from Europe, the U.S., and China," he said, adding that a stock market listing is also an option although the asset may lack scale for such a deal.

Terra Firma put Odeon & UCI, Britian's market-leading cinema operator on the block in 2013, but did not proceed with a sale. At the time, the buyout group worked with JPMorgan (LSE: JPIU.L - news) and Goldman Sachs. ($1 = 0.6450 pounds) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, editing by David Evans)