AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the world’s largest movie theater chain, has launched efforts to sell more than $700 million worth of stock while warning that failing to raise enough liquidity might force the company into bankruptcy, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The equity sale could help AMC avoid a debt default, if the company can generate enough dollars to last it until widespread vaccination against COVID-19 helps bring moviegoers back into theaters, AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said yesterday. If AMC can’t obtain the liquidity needed to stay afloat until movie attendance gets back to normal, the company would likely need to restructure its balance sheet, potentially causing a “total loss” of stockholders’ investment, according to a securities filing Thursday. Equity ranks below debt in priority and often gets wiped out in a bankruptcy restructuring. AMC is aiming to sell up to 200 million shares, or more than $700 million, based on the $3.58 stock price yesterday. The company previously proposed stock sales in September and November, filing two separate shelf registrations to sell 30 million and 20 million shares, respectively. Despite reopening the bulk of the company’s more than 1,000 cinemas world-wide, AMC is burning cash as capacity restrictions limit movie attendance and major Hollywood theaters delay big-ticket flicks or, increasingly, send them straight to streaming. AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. studio pushed back the release of “Wonder Woman 1984” until Christmas, while MGM Holdings Inc. has delayed the release of “No Time to Die,” a James Bond film, to April 2021.
