The former ArcLight Cinemas located at The Hub on Causeway, a large-scale mixed-use development at North Station in Boston, has been acquired by AMC. The 13-screen cinema opened in December 2019 and closed three months later due to COVID-19.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. AMC has acquired a handful of theatres out of the pandemic and, according to the company, sees further consolidation with opportunities to enhance its footprint by acquiring superb theatres without significant capital outlays while at the same time exiting under-performing locations.”
AMC CEO Adam Aron noted the chain’s enhanced liquidity after raising more $162 million from the sale AMC Preferred Equity units. That’s a new currency the debuted earlier last year after stockholders balked at the company issuing new, regular AMC shares to raise capital. That helped it pay down some of its hefty debt load.
“That implies an improvement in the net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash of between $110 million and $210 million compared to the third quarter of 2022,” AMC noted.
“Even though the APE units and our common shares are economically equivalent, it is disappointing that the APE units have since inception consistently traded at a significant discount to the AMC common shares,” Aron said. “While the trading prices of the two securities seem to reflect distinct market and trading dynamics, the APEs are serving precisely the purpose originally intended for them. At a time when one or more of our competitors have been facing potentially devastating liquidity challenges, by contrast during the past 90 days, AMC has been able to raise $162 million of additional cash through the sale of equity thereby improving our own liquidity position markedly.”