ABC and Odeon merge
The ABC and Odeon cinema chains are planned to merge under the Odeon brand name.
The city venture capital investors Cinven, who already own the ABC circuit, have acquired the Odeon chain from the Rank Group via a share transfer. They plan to merge the circuits to be run by an almost exclusive Odeon head office management.
The addition of 57 sites strengthens Odeon's position as the UK's number one circuit, and BECTU has met senior management of the company to discuss the situation.
The first tranche of ABC sites to be rebranded will be the West End and multiplexes later this year. As they are rebranded, the company whishes to explore the feasibility of transferring staff from ABC to Odeon contracts subject to consultations and negotiations with BECTU. A joint working party is to be established to examine the implications.
On pensions, the existing schemes will continue to operate as normal and Odeon plan members will continue to contribute to the Rank Group scheme until alternative arrangements are put in place. BECTU has been told that Odeon do not intend to replace existing schemes with anything less beneficial to scheme members.
The company has said that Cinvin has set aside around £60 million to invest in the business. However they have said that the current policy on closures would not change - sites where the company was not making a reasonable return on investment could still close. Additionally, under the merged circuit, locations where both are operating would also be subject to review.
In their heyday Odeon and ABC were the UK's two leading circuits: in fact film release patterns were determined by their very existence. Distributors such as MGM, Warner Brothers and Paramount would normally go out on ABC, with Twentieth Century Fox, United Artists and Universal going out on Odeon release.
Odeon, the culmination of the merger of J Arthur Rank's Gaumont British and Oscar Deutche's Odeon circuit has acquired very little in its history save for the Jackson Withers circuit in Wales. ABC, on the other hand, comprises cinemas from almost every other circuit of any significance that has ever existed in the UK.