UGC
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UGC is the largest cinema operator in Europe with, as of August 2005, 49 sites and 553 screens across four countries:
- France: 37 cinemas, 357 screens
- Spain: 5 cinemas, 88 screens
- Belgium: 4 cinemas, 56 screens
- Italy: 3 cinemas, 52 screens
In 2002 the company sold 64 million tickets.
UGC was originally an exclusively French operator, created in 1971 from a merger of several regional cinema companies. The name originally stood for Union Générale Cinématographique, but today only the initials are used. The company is focused on the business side of the film business, showing little interest in the screening of artistic cinema, unlike companies such as MK2.
[edit] UGC UK and Ireland
UGC was formerly also a leading UK cinema owner following the purchase of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Cinema Group, which it purchased in October 1999. In December 2004, the business was sold to Blackstone Group and joined with Cine-UK to trade as Cineworld. UGC's chain in the UK and Ireland consisted of:
In July 2005, Cineworld began to phase out the UGC brand, replacing it with its own Cineworld logo. This rebranding was completed in September 2005. Cineworld has retained certain aspects of the UGC offer, including the Unlimited season ticket, originally introduced by Virgin, and the free magazine of the same name.
