LEAWOOD, KA: AMC Entertainment has brought on ICR for outreach assistance as it plans to go public later this month.
The second-largest US cinema chain is offering the 2.5 million consumers in its Stubs affinity program who pay $12 annually for membership the chance to purchase and sell $100 to $2,500 in AMC stock. A day before the start of public trading, Stubs members and the company's 18,000 employees will be able to acquire shares.
AMC aims to raise as much as $360 million by selling 18.4 million shares at $18 to $20 each. Beginning in the first quarter of next year, the company plans to pay a dividend on its stock and reportedly wants to use part of the IPO's proceeds for capital expenditures and to reduce debt. In June, the company reported debt of $2.2 billion.
“We believe the exhibition business is in the early stages of a transition. After decades of economic models driven by quantity (number of theaters, screens, and seats), it is the quality of the movie-going experience that will define future success,” AMC said in its registration filing.
The company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AMC.
An AMC spokesperson was not available for comment on the outreach strategy for the IPO or whether the chain will award shareholders perks at its theaters. An ICR staffer confirmed the agency's work for the cinema company but did not provide details.
Last year, China's Dalian Wanda Group acquired AMC for $2.6 billion. According to its SEC filing, the company had revenue of $2 billion in the first nine months of 2013.
AMC previously filed for IPOs in 2007 and 2010, but later withdrew both offerings due to adverse marketing conditions and preliminary talks with Wanda, respectively.
