A man walks past the AMC Georgetown 14 Theaters in Washington, DC on June 3, 2021.
Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest cinema chain, is adding two more locations in Los Angeles to its list.
On Monday, the cinema chain announced that it was taking over the leases for the 14-screen cinema in the Grove shopping complex in the Fairfax neighborhood and the 18-screen location in the Americana at Brand in Glendale. Both locations were previously operated by Pacific Theaters and are owned by real estate company Caruso.
In April, Decurion, which owned the Pacific Theater and ArcLight Cinema chains, said it would not reopen its 17 locations. AMC, which has raised more than $ 1.6 billion in cash from stock sales, previously announced it was looking at several of Decurion’s old leases and looking for locations that had strong ticket sales prior to the pandemic.
In 2018, The Grove Theater was the second highest grossing theater and Americana was the fifth highest grossing theater in the Los Angeles area. AMC is expected to reopen these theaters in August.
“These two theaters are each located in world-class lifestyle centers that offer the best in retail, dining and entertainment,” said Adam Aron, CEO of AMC, in a statement on Monday. “Each was designed and operated by Caruso, one of the largest and most admired private real estate companies in the United States.”
The expansion of AMC’s presence has always been the focus of Aron’s strategy. Aron acquired Carmike, Odeon and Nordic shortly after assuming the position of CEO in 2015.
The company’s shares were unchanged after Monday’s closing bell, but are down more than 40% over the past month. The company’s share price was cut in half from its high of $ 72.62 in early June this year. The wild swings came when the stock, along with other “mem” stocks like Game Stop and Bed Bath and Beyond, got into the Reddit investment frenzy.