Rolling: AMC looks to lease ArcLight, Pacific Theaters spaces

Firm agrees to sell 8.5M shares as it goes “on the offense again,” CEO says

AMC CEO Adam Aron (Getty, Twitter via Aron)
AMC CEO Adam Aron (Getty, Twitter via Aron)

AMC Entertainment Holdings, which had been flopping amid the pandemic lockdowns, now appears to be on a roll.

The firm is looking to ink leases at shuttered movie houses that had been occupied by Pacific Theaters and ArcLight Cinemas. The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.

In April, Decurion Corp — which operated Pacific Theaters and ArcLight — said it was permanently closing its locations. The company operated 16 movie theaters and 300 screens across both brands, including the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.

AMC would use cash from a deal with investment firm Mudrick Capital Management. On Wednesday, AMC sold 8.5 million shares to Mudrick, collecting $230.5 million in cash, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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AMC’s stock was trading at just under $40 on Wednesday morning.

The firm is in “discussions with multiple landlords” at the shuttered theaters, CEO Adam Aron said in a company statement Tuesday.

AMC is rebounding from an abysmal 2020 in which it lost $4.59 billion. In January it secured more than $900 million in financing, and by the end of March, it had reopened nearly all of its pandemic-shuttered theaters.

The cash from the Mudrick deal allows AMC “to be aggressive in going after the most valuable theater assets,” Aron added. He said it was time the company went “on the offense again.”