Movie theater giant AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. signed deals for $917 million in financing to survive the Covid-19 pandemic for months longer without resorting to bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. AMC, the world’s largest movie theater chain, said it had executed a commitment letter for $411 million in debt financing through increasing the size of and refinancing a European credit facility while raising $506 million in equity since mid-December. “This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table,” said Chief Executive Adam Aron. The company had warned about its risk of bankruptcy since late last year. With the deals, AMC said that its financial runway has now been extended deep into 2021 and that while an increase in cinema attendance seems likely, the future course of the coronavirus means the company’s cash needs remain uncertain. The company also said that it presumed it would continue to make progress in negotiations with theater landlords over lease payments. Investors have been willing to keep AMC afloat even as it burned cash and theaters stayed largely dark as infections surged late last year. The pandemic has hit AMC hard as restrictions on indoor gathering forced the company to temporarily close most of its more than 1,000 theaters world-wide. AMC and its peers also face a challenge from major Hollywood studios that have either delayed releasing films or released them straight to streaming services during the pandemic, leaving cinemas with little content to show those viewers willing and able to brave a trip to the big screen. Warner Bros. said earlier this month that it would release its entire 2021 slate of films simultaneously in theaters and on its HBO Max streaming service, a drastic step in eliminating the exclusivity that theater chains have enjoyed for decades.
