German state bank WestLB is close to selling its stake in Odeon, the UK's largest cinema chain, in a deal valued at up to 300 million pounds ($544 million), a newspaper said on Sunday.
Under terms of the sale to co-shareholders property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz and film distributor Entertainment Group, WestLB has agreed to refinance Odeon with a 250 million pound loan, Britain's Sunday Telegraph said, citing an executive involved in the deal.
The German state bank would also accept a "substantial write-down" on the 50 million pounds of equity it invested in Odeon last year, the paper said, but quoted a spokesman as saying this would be covered by existing provisions.
A spokesman for WestLB told Reuters on Sunday he could not comment on the report but repeated that the bank was pursuing its goal of slimming down its investment portfolio.
A source close to the situation told Reuters in December that Odeon had received several bid approaches, including one from Tchenguiz.
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