UK's Vue Entertainment mulls bid for Nordic Cinema Group

Cinema operator Vue Entertainment is reportedly preparing an offer for Nordic Cinema Group, majority-owned by listed Swedish private equity firm Ratos.

Nordic Cinema Group could be worth between £350m (€480m, $539m) and £400m, reported The Sunday Times.

Nordic Cinema Group is the Nordic region's largest cinema operator with 65 wholly-owned movie theatres with 436 screens and about 64,000 seats across six countries, including Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

It is also co-owner of additional 43 movie theatres.

Pursued by Reuters, Vue, owned by Canadian asset managers OMERS Private Equity and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (Aimco), did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Ratos refused to comment on the report.

Ratos owns 58% of Nordic Cinema Group while Bonnier, the Swedish media major, owns 40% of the cinema operator. Nordic Cinema's management and board hold the remainder.

Nordic Cinema had sales of 2.6bn Swedish crowns ($312m) and earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of 366m crowns in 2014.

In November 2014, Vue Entertainment International completed the acquisition of Italian cinema chain The Space Entertainment.

Vue acquired peers Multikino in Poland in September 2013, CinemaxX in Germany in August 2012 and Apollo in the UK in May 2012.