AMC Entertainment Completes $350M Equity Offering And Lowers Debt By $62M With Lean Times At Box Office Ahead

deadline.com:

Leading movie theater operator AMC Entertainment has wrapped a $350 million at-the-market equity offering and reduced its debt by $62 million.

The transaction was announced after the close of trading Monday. AMC had announced the equity offering in November. AMC said it raised $350 million of new equity capital, before commissions and fees, through the sale of about 48 million shares, at an average price of about $7.29 per share.

Exhibitors are facing a difficult stretch over the next few months due to a squeeze on the supply of studio films. Confronting the dual strikes by writers and actors, studios pushed a number of 2023 and early 2024 releases to later dates given production and promotion challenges.

Theaters, though, depend on event titles and are heading toward a January period with only a handful of wide releases. Unlike past Christmases, when franchise titles like Avatar: The Way of Water drove significant box office, this year’s late-December slate has mainly Wonka and the Aquaman sequel as audience draws. “Successfully raising an additional $350 million of equity capital and reducing debt by more than $62 million in a single month underscores our continued commitment to strengthen our balance sheet by bolstering liquidity and methodically reducing debt levels,” CEO Adam Aron said.