COLUMBUS, GA -- AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) raised its takeover bid for its competitor Columbus-based Carmike Cinemas (CKEK), pushing forward the twice-postponed merger deal that will give birth to the nation's largest movie theater chain.
Under the revised deal announced Monday, Carmike’s stockholders will be given the option to receive either $33.06 in cash or 1.0819 shares of AMC. This represents an increase of 10.2% over AMC’s original cash offer of $30 per share; and 32% over Carmike’s stock price on March 3, 2016, the last date prior to the announcement of the merger.
The transaction is valued by the companies at approximately $1.2 billion, consisting of about $585 million paid in cash and $250 million in AMC’s Class A common stock plus debt.
The Carmike board voted unanimously to approve the amended deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, ending a months-long price negotiation since AMC announced the merger in March. AMC, mostly controlled by China’s Dalian Wanda Group Co., is the nation’s second-largest movie theater chain, nibbling at the heels of Regal Entertainment Group, which has 567 theaters to AMC's 385.
Carmike, branding itself as "America's Hometown Theater," owns 276 theaters nationwide, largely in rural or suburban areas.
The deal was reached not long after AMC’s acquisition of Europe’s largest cinema chain, Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group, for £500 million ($650 million).
Both stocks fell Monday, with shares of Carmike down 1.1% in early afternoon trading and shares of AMC down 1.1%.
