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Wanda, Reliance Plan Joint Ventures In Theater Business In India, U.S.: Reports

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 13, 2012 @ 9:30pm PSTTags: Reliance, Wanda Group

Anil Ambani’s sprawling Indian conglomerate Reliance and China’s Wanda Group have announced plans to create long-term joint ventures in cinema exhibition in India and the United States, Reuters reports. Plans also call for Reliance and Wanda to build real estate projects in India involving a combined area of about 20 million square feet across a pair of locations in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad. Wanda Group earlier this year became the world’s biggest owner of movie theaters when it acquired U.S. chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion. It has about 1,000 screens in China and 5,890 in the U.S. from AMC. Wanda says it plans to spend $10 billion in North America over the next decade. Reliance currently operates 254 screens in India and 170 screens across the U.S., according to Film Business Asia. Reliance also has invested in DreamWorks Studios and has backed a 10-episode pirate project for NBC. Wanda Cinema Circuit was yesterday named Exhibitor of the Year at the annual CineAsia convention in Hong Kong. Reliance’s facilities and post-production unit Mediaworks recently partnered with China’s Galloping Horse to acquire the U.S. effects house Digital Domain. Mediaworks has a 30% stake and Galloping Horse 70%.
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Exhibitor AMC Says Admissions And Revenues Fell In Q3

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday November 9, 2012 @ 3:48pm PSTTags: AMC Entertainment, Wanda Group

The soft results in an SEC filing this evening are consistent with some of the numbers we’ve seen elsewhere for the quarter — but with a lot of financial noise resulting from Wanda Group’s $2.7B acquisition … Read More »

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It’s Official: Wanda Group Closes $2.6B Purchase of AMC Entertainment

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 4, 2012 @ 10:22am PDTTags: AMC Entertainment, Big Deals Film, Wanda Group

BEIJING, China and KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept, 4, 2012 — Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd. (“Wanda”), a leading Chinese private conglomerate and China’s largest investor in cultural and entertainment activities, and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (“AMC”), a preeminent U.S. movie exhibitor, today announced the successful completion of Wanda’s acquisition of AMC, creating the world’s largest cinema owner. The transaction is valued at approximately US$2.6 billion.

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AMC-Wanda Deal Gets Regulatory OK

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday July 25, 2012 @ 11:33am PDTTags: AMC Entertainment, Big Deals Film, Wanda Group

Wanda says its acquisition of AMC Entertainment should close at the end of August. The $2.6B deal — mostly from Wanda’s assumption of AMC debt — was cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and the Federal Trade Commission as well as China’s National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The company’s betting on U.S. exhibition at a time when the industry’s prospects are murky — and not simply due to last week’d tragedy in Aurora, Colo. Things look good now: Stock prices for chains including Carmike, Cinemark, and Regal have outperformed the overall market over the last few years — including over the last 12 months and year-to-date in 2012. Investors have been impressed by theaters’ ability to keep raising prices for tickets and concessions even as the number of admissions has either remained flat or declined. But consumers are starting to push back. For example, many chains have had to lower their pric- hike expectations for 3D movies. Studios also haven’t abandoned their hope to offer recently released movies on VOD, which theater owners say could cut into their sales.

Related: China’s Wanda Group Agrees To Pay $2.6B For AMC Entertainment

Here’s the release from Wanda and AMC: Read More »

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Big Changes At AMC Entertainment: Q&A With Gerry Lopez

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday May 29, 2012 @ 2:32pm PDTTags: AMC Entertainment, Wanda Group

AMC BuyoutDon’t rule out the possibility that China’s Dalian Wanda Group will eye the U.S. movie production business now that it has agreed to pay $2.6B for AMC Entertainment. The exhibition chain’s also considering allowing texting during some showtimes. AMC chief Gerry Lopez, 52, says all kinds of things can happen these days, and especially following his blockbuster deal last week with Wanda’s billionaire chief Wang Jianlin. It’s Wang’s first major foray outside of his country, as well as the biggest buyout by a Chinese company of a U.S. entity. If approved by government officials, Wanda will pick up the No. 2 movie chain — whose initials used to stand for American Multi-Cinema — with 5,034 screens at 346 theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

Gerry Lopez AMCThe deal cures AMC’s biggest headache. It needed to pay off its private equity owners: J.P. Morgan, Apollo Management, Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group, and Spectrum Equity. The company had hoped to go public but that effort stalled as AMC continued to spill red ink. In the 52 weeks that ended in March it generated a net loss of $82M — an improvement from the $122.9M loss in the same period ending a year ago — on revenues of $2.6B, up 6.7%. Wanda’s purchase price includes the assumption of AMC’s $2.2B in debt, which required the chain to pay about $160M in interest in its latest fiscal year.

What happens now? Deadline Executive Editor David Lieberman spoke with Lopez, a former Starbucks exec, about AMC’s plans with Wanda and other hot-button issues in exhibition. This interview was edited for length and clarity: Read More »

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China’s Wanda Group Agrees To Pay $2.6B For AMC Entertainment

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Sunday May 20, 2012 @ 7:11pm PDTTags: AMC Entertainment, Big Deals Film, Wanda Group

About $2B in the purchase price comes from Wanda’s assumption of AMC’s debt, I’m told. The deal is expected to close in a few months after it’s approved by anti-trust officials and the federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. In the meantime, AMC will keep alive its application at the SEC to go public — even though the company has done little to move it along. Wanda sees its acquisition of AMC as an opportunity to secure a foothold in the U.S., learn industry best practices, and strengthen its relationship with IMAX. The deal calls for AMC management to remain in charge of the U.S. operation at the company headquarters in Kansas City. Wanda’s deep pockets also should enable debt-laden AMC to make needed renovations, and possibly give it the ability to acquire theaters.

Here’s the announcement: Read More »

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China’s Wanda Group In Talks To Acquire AMC Entertainment: Report

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday May 8, 2012 @ 2:47am PDTTags: AMC Entertainment, Big Deals Film, IMAX, Wanda Group

AMC, owner of North America’s second-biggest movie theater chain, has been in on-and-off discussions with Chinese giant Wanda for over a year, The New York Times reports. The talks, which have recently heated up, concern a straight acquisition or the purchase of a “significant stake” in the company, the newspaper says. Along with owning 730 local movie screens (47 are IMAX), Wanda has interests in luxury hotels, tourism investment and department stores and has annual income of $17B. Chairman Wang Jianlin recently said the company intended to increase its investment in cultural industries. AMC has roughly 350 theaters with 5,050 screens and is currently held by a group of investment firms including Apollo, JPMorgan, Bain Capital and the Carlyle Group. A deal would put a current value of about $1.5B on AMC, The Times estimates. Read More »

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