August 22, 2017
Industry
MoviePass' New Unlimited Movies in Theaters Deal Sounds Amazing—But There’s a Catch
From Gizmodo.com: What is the sweet spot for getting people to join a movie theater ticket subscription service? For six years, MoviePass has struggled to answer that question and now, under former Netflix exec Mitch Lowe, it’s introducing a radical plan: Selling customers’ data and charging $10 a month for all the silver screen action you can fit into your life.
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January 25, 2017
Industry
Leawood, KS - Wanda Expands Global Theater Reach as AMC Pays $929 Million for Nordic Cinema
From Variety.com: AMC, the U.S. theater chain controlled by China’s Dalian Wanda group, is to pay $929 million for Nordic Cinema Group. The company is the largest cinema operator in seven countries in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The deal follows AMC’s acquisition last year of Odeon-UCI, the largest cinema operator in Western Europe. AMC said that the two European chains will be operated together.
AMC is buying Nordic in a transaction from private equity firm Bridgepoint and Swedish media group Bonnier Holding. The transaction is to be an all-cash affair worth $929 million (SEK8.25 billion), and the deal is subject to approval from the European Union.
Nordic has 68 theaters in 50 large and medium cities, comprising 463 screens and 68,000 seats. The company also holds substantial minority stakes in another 50 theaters with 201 screens.
Acquiring the group is part of Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin’s stated goal of owning 20% of the world’s movie screens. He believes that will give his company significant negotiating power in discussions with the world’s leading film distributors, most notably the six Hollywood majors. Prior to the Nordic deal, Wanda controlled some 12% of global screens through AMC and its separately listed Wanda Cinema line, which has cinemas in China and also owns Australia’s No. 2 operator, Hoyts group.
AMC also recently agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice on the terms of its proposed takeover of the North American Carmike chain; the deal was closed before Christmas.
“For the third time in the past 12 months, we believe we have discovered a substantial acquisition that gives AMC yet another opportunity to further expand and diversify our geographic reach and more firmly establish AMC as the undisputed leader in movie exhibition worldwide,” AMC CEO and President Adam Aron said in a statement of the Nordic Group acquisition.
“It has been our observation that Nordic is extremely well-run with a modern up-to-date theater circuit that in our opinion offers tremendous value potential for AMC over the foreseeable future. We are also excited by the growth potential of Nordic as it moves forward with 10 theaters already in development or redevelopment. We have been impressed with Nordic’s talented leadership team, and further believe that their added expertise will be invaluable to us in helping to drive AMC’s progress across Europe.”
AMC said that it will achieve additional economies of scale and save about $5 million in costs per year.
Reactions to the acquisition from local players have been for the most part muted.
Thor Sigurjonsson, general manager of Scanbox, one of Scandinavia’s top distribution outfits whose slate of releases include “Lion,” “Gold” and “Molly’s Game,” said the AMC pickup was “not a huge surprise.”
“It’s a natural consolidation of the business, and we welcome a true cinema player to the market. We’ve had great relations with Nordic Cinema Group and hope to continue to do so moving forward,” said Sigurjonsson, whose company, Scanbox, operates in Finland, Denmark and Sweden as well as Norway via Norse Filmdisturjbution.
Michael Porseryd, CEO of SF Studios, another Scandinavian heavyweight operating across the Nordics, said his company “has had a long and successful partnership with Nordic Cinema Group and their very professional team and hopes SF Studios’s close relationship with Nordic Cinema Group will continue in the future.” SF Studios’s slate include “Borg/McEnroe” with Shia LaBeouf.
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December 22, 2016
Industry
Leawood, KS - Regulators: AMC Can Buy Smaller Movie-Theater Chain Carmike
From ABC News: Federal regulators gave conditional approval Tuesday to movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s $1.2 billion buyout of smaller rival Carmike Cinemas Inc., making AMC the biggest U.S. movie theater operator.
The U.S. Department of Justice said its approval hinges on Leawood, Kansas-based AMC selling theaters in 15 local markets in nine states where it competes with Carmike.
AMC also has to divest most of its holdings in National CineMedia, a cinema advertising company, and transfer 24 theaters to a rival theater ad company, Screenvision LLC.
The Justice Department said the deal, which requires court approval, would lead to higher prices for moviegoers without such conditions.
AMC, which was bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group in 2012, called Tuesday’s action “the final regulatory hurdle” in its push for Carmike, adding in a statement that it expects to complete the transaction “expeditiously.” It did not elaborate.
“Needless to say, we are in a good mood in Leawood, Kansas,” Adam Aron, AMC’s chief executive and president, said during a conference call Tuesday with reporters and analysts. “Today is a glorious day and another great day for AMC.”
Aron said 15 to 20 theaters would be sold off, most all of them from the Carmike network.
AMC, already the world’s biggest theater operator, operated roughly 388 theaters with a total of 5,295 screens in 33 states and the District of Columbia as of the end of September. Its U.S. box office revenues were about $1.9 billion last year.
Carmike, based in Columbus, Georgia, has 271 theaters with a combined 2,917 screens in 41 states. Carmike’s 2015 U.S. box office revenues were roughly $490 million.
The local markets where AMC must sell off theaters are in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The deal includes $585 million in cash and $250 million in AMC’s Class A common stock. AMC is also assuming about $367 million in debt in the deal.
AMC shares rose 25 cents to $33.45 on Tuesday. Shares of Carmike closed at $33.40, up 15 cents.
6 comments
November 30, 2016
Industry
Leawood, KS - AMC Theatres Is Now the Biggest Movie Theater Company in the World
From The Wrap: AMC Entertainment Inc., the parent of AMC Theatres, is now the biggest movie theater chain in the world, after the company announced that it has completed its acquisition of Europe’s Odeon & UCI Cinemas in a $1.2 billion deal.
With the addition of Odeon, Europe’s No. 1 exhibitor, AMC now operates 636 theatres with 7,623 screens across eight countries. AMC intends to rename the chain to Odeon Cinemas Group.
Odeon CEO Paul Donovan will be departing, with former chief financial officer Mark Way becoming president of AMC Europe and managing director of Odeon Cinemas Group. Ian Shepherd has been named executive vice president of AMC Europe and chief operating officer of Odeon Cinemas Group. Odeon will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMC, maintaining its headquarters in London.
China’s Dalian Wanda Group — whose founder and CEO Wang Jianlin is China’s richest man — bought AMC for $2.6 billion in 2012, and has continued to expand its theatrical holdings. Wanda operates 187 cinemas in China with 1,657 screens — including 117 Imax theaters. The company is IMAX’s biggest consumer worldwide.
Last month, shareholders of Carmike Cinemas, the U.S.’s fourth largest chain, approved a $1.2 billion offer by AMC to acquire the exhibitor, which would also have made it the world’s biggest even without Odeon & UCI. That deal is pending Justice Department approval.
Wanda’s Hollywood shopping spree has hardly been restricted to movie theaters. This year, the Chinese conglomerate acquired “Jurassic World” production company Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion and Dick Clark Productions for $1 billion.
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November 14, 2016
Industry
Leawood, KS - AMC Poised to Become World’s Largest Movie Chain
From The Wall Street Journal: The sleepy movie-theater industry rarely is a player in big-ticket deals. But after working for months to get skeptical investors on board, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. appears poised to win shareholder approval for an acquisition that would make it the largest exhibitor in the world.
AMC, which currently is the second-biggest theater chain in the U.S., plans to pay $1.2 billion to acquire Carmike Cinemas Inc., a tie-up that Carmike shareholders are expected to vote on Tuesday. The initial deal, announced in March, was met with investor backlash and forced a delay of the vote.
Meanwhile, AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron is pursuing a second acquisition that would expand the company to Europe. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
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July 12, 2016
Industry
London, UK - AMC Entertainment to Buy Europe’s Biggest Theater Chain for $1.2 Billion
From The Wrap:
AMC Theatres announced deal to acquire London-based Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group
China-controlled AMC Entertainment continues its global expansion, announcing plans on Tuesday to acquire Europe’s largest movie theater chain for $1.2 billion.
London-based Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group has been in the hands of Guy Hands’ Terra Firma private equity outfit.
AMC, which is also finalizing its acquisition of Georgia-based U.S. exhibitor Carmike, announced it would pay 75 percent in cash and 25 percent in stock for Odeon. The companies expect to complete the deal by the end of the year. Odeon & UCI oversee 242 theaters and 2,236 screens, selling 90 million tickets annually, according to MarketWatch.
With the acquisitions, AMC’s holdings would include 627 theaters and 7,600-plus screens in eight countries.
“While we acknowledge that there are some uncertainties related to Brexit, we are encouraged that current currency rates are highly favorable to AMC with the pound falling to a three decade low versus the dollar,” AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.
2 comments
June 7, 2012
Industry
Theories on AMC purchase
With Wanda Group being confirmed as the buyer of AMC the other week, many heads were turning in confusion. The Wrap posted some theories on Wanda’s motives for the deal.
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May 28, 2010
Industry
AMC to sell nine cinemas to Regal to complete Kerasotes acquisition
KANSAS CITY, MO — To comply with a Department of Justice ruling, AMC will divest itself of nine theaters it currently owns in Indianapolis, Chicago, and Denver to the Regal Entertainment Group in exchange for cash and two Regal theaters.
Regal said in a release Monday that it had entered an agreement to acquire theaters in Indiana, Illinois and Colorado from AMC in exchange for cash and two Regal theaters. Terms of the deal were not released, other than that the exchange is expected to close during the second quarter.
On Friday, the Justice Department said it was requiring Kansas City-based AMC to divest itself of the theaters as a condition for approving the $275 million acquisition of Kerasotes. Department officials said the purchase would decrease movie theater competition in Chicago, Denver and Indianapolis, leading to higher ticket prices.
The full story is in Biz Journals.
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October 9, 2009
Industry
Cinemark Theaters launching big screen installations to vie with IMAX
Cinemark Theaters has announced that it will install its own proprietary big screen system called Cinemark XD in markets where Regal and AMC do not have exclusive licensing arrangments with IMAX. The screens will be 72 feet wide and Cinemark claims they can be used to show any film, 2-D or 3-D, in digital format.
As with Imax, audiences pay $3 or so more per ticket to see 2-D or 3-D movies using state-of-the-art sound as well as the 72-foot-wide screens.
The plan could boost Cinemark’s prospects in cities where rival chains have exclusive deals with Imax.
“Regal (RGC) and AMC have locked up the majority of available markets in the U.S.,” says Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Eric Wold.
Read the whole article in USA Today.
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October 6, 2008
Industry
Wall Street financing massive digital conversion program
Wall Street will raise over $1 billion to help fund the conversion of 20,000 movie screens to digital projection in a deal announced Wednesday.
Blackstone Group LP and JPMorgan Chase & Co are arranging financing for Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc and AMC Entertainment Inc to install 3D digital projection for up to 20,000 movie screens.
The three theater chains have reached agreements with Lionsgate, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney and Universal Pictures where the studios will pay a “virtual print fee” each time a digital movie is shown. The fee will be used to pay off the cost of the equipment.
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