[2] Virgin Group bought the cinemas for £195m, and subsequently sold 90 of the chain's smallest cinemas to Cinven and ABC for £70m to concentrate on multiplexes.

[2] In late 1999 Virgin announced that it would sell its cinema interests in the UK and Ireland to UGC, in which French entertainment and utilities giant Vivendi has a 38% controlling share.

[3] Virgin sold the chain for £215m, making them a profit of £90m, and all the cinemas were to be rebranded to UGC.

The company did strike a long-term deal, however, for UGC to continue to sell Virgin Cola.

[2] The group continued to operate a Virgin Cinemas Japan unit, and announced, also in late 1999, that it would spend up to US$200 million to develop 20 multiplexes in Japan by the early 21st century; a number of Virgin multiplexes in the United States were also under consideration.