As prominent movie theater chain AMC Theatres sits on a mountain of debt with its stock price hitting all-time lows, it is looking to investors for help.
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AMC Entertainment Holdings is seeking nearly $2.5B from credit investors to refinance its debt. The theater chain is marketing a $750M term loan set to be part of a broader package with $1.73B of other secured debt, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed source.
The company has a $2B loan due in 2029 and $400M worth of 12.75% notes set to mature next year, they said.
The update came after a subset of AMC investors agreed to change the terms of a loan to give the chain more flexibility when refinancing last month.
Holders of the Muvico LLC senior secured notes due in 2029 are set to receive $18.9M worth of shares in exchange for axing a covenant that would have prevented AMC from refinancing, according to a filing obtained by Bloomberg.
But the company and its competitors may be fighting an uphill battle.
AMC’s stock price hovered around its all-time low at roughly $1.25 on Tuesday, ahead of its earnings call scheduled for Feb. 24. Its stock has steadily dropped over the last few years after the meme stock craze led it to soar in 2021 and 2022, reaching as high as $261.
The pandemic roiled the movie theater industry. AMC closed 192 venues and opened just 62 in the five years following the Covid-19 shutdowns.
The chain has earmarked $1.5B to make upgrades at some of its poorest-performing theaters. AMC plans to add high-end amenities like reclining seats and laser projection, which draw customers to some of its highest-performing locations, at ones that aren’t doing as well.
The number of screens nationwide decreased by about 5,691, or almost 14%, between 2019 and last year.
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