Described as a "terrific shareholder of AMC for almost a decade," the Wanda Group sold most of its shares in AMC Entertainment after acquiring the company in 2012 and taking it public in 2013, AMC CEO Adam Aron said March 21.
“Under their ownership, AMC became the biggest movie theater operator in the world,” Aron said, according to a news release. “Importantly, Wanda also has supported our reinvesting billions of dollars to upgrade and enhance our network of theaters for the benefit of moviegoers throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East."
Aron "saluted" Wanda Group for its "immensely constructive role" in building AMC as well as its counsel and friendship. Wanda reportedly owns the largest movie theater circuit in China, while AMC is the largest similar circuit in both the U.S. and Europe, the AMC news release said.
The Wanda Group, a Beijing-based conglomerate, bought AMC for $2.6 billion, which Nikkei Asia called “historic not only for the Chinese buyer but also for corporate China overall.” Wanda began selling down its shares in 2018 after Chinese regulators instructed banks to “curtail” funding for Wanda's “aggressive, debt-fueled” acquisitions of foreign assets.
No single entity out of more than 3 million individual shareholders has more than a 10-percent ownership stake, AMC Investor Relations said.
Though Wanda's stake is down from 23.08 percent, AMC's report that Wanda holds 9.8-percent stock ownership and has representation on AMC's board of directors means it could still exercise significant influence, according to Variety.
AMC reportedly suffered a net loss of $4.6 billion in 2020 due to pandemic mitigations, Variety reported.
