http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...a_loews_amc_dc

By Julie MacIntosh
48 minutes ago



NEW YORK (Reuters) - AMC Entertainment Inc., the No. 2 U.S. movie theater chain, on Tuesday said it will buy its next-largest competitor, Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp., to challenge market leader Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC - news).

The U.S. movie theater sector has been a hot spot of acquisition activity over the past year-and-a-half, and AMC and Loews are no strangers to each others' businesses -- the two rivals held unsuccessful merger talks early last year.

After that round of talks failed, private equity investors J.P. Morgan Partners and Apollo Management agreed to buy AMC for $1.67 billion last July.

Terms of Tuesday's deal were not disclosed, but later that same month fellow private equity players Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Investors agreed to buy Loews Cineplex from another buyout investor for $1.5 billion.

AMC's investor group will retain a 60 percent stake in the new company, which will keep the AMC Entertainment name, while the Loews investor group will own the remainder.

The deal will consolidate AMC's already formidable presence in large, urban markets. AMC is known for its huge movie complexes -- nearly three-quarters of its screens are located in "megaplexes" that have 14 or more movie screens -- and a large number of its theaters are located in California, Florida and Texas.

Most of Loews' theaters are in major metropolitan markets. The company lays claim to the biggest share of the market in New York City, Chicago, Detroit and Mexico City.

Once the deal is completed, the new AMC Entertainment will have about 5,900 movie screens in 450 theaters and be run by AMC Chairman and Chief Executive President Peter Brown.

AMC rival Regal Entertainment, which operates Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatres and Edwards Theatres, has more than 6,200 screens in more than 550 locations and has theaters spread more broadly across suburban areas.

The longest film industry box-office slump in 20 years cast a shadow over the deal, however. Movie ticket sales just posted their 17th straight weekend of year-on-year declines, and even big-budget films "Star Wars" and "Batman Begins" have been unable to stem the losses.

AMC and Regal announced in March a plan to combine their on-screen advertising businesses into a company called National CineMedia, which will market and sell movie theater advertising and book theaters for non-movie events.

AMC and Loews expected the deal to close within six to nine months. At the end of 2004, Loews had $1.75 billion of total assets and $1 billion in total debt, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


Chris

AMC is awful. The bigger they get, the more audiences suffer.

Interesting. There are no theaters from any of the companies mentioned in that article here in Utah.

Hmm...not too familiar with AMC theaters, but I did really like the Loews multiplexes. Big, modern and clean. Hope that doesn't change with the takeover.

uh oh - well I guess that means that Tyson's Corner Loews theatre will most likely close when the Mall Cineplex opens just across the road this Fall.

Great... With box office sales in decline and theater companies taking on these mergers and new ventures, we can probably expect a jump from 20-25 minutes to atleast 45 minutes of advertising before the feature.

And on a unrelated note Peter Brown is by far the most common full name I know... I personally know 3 people with the name Peter Brown and read about another, in the news, at least once a month.

I like AMC so more power to 'em.

I agree, I like their frequent movie going card, I get more benefits than Regals stupid card - Loews never had a card program.

Tell me about it!. I just got another "Free movie" coupon. I use those for movies I'm half ass about. The good films usually don't allow passes anyway.

I was never much a fan of AMC, but not like I go to Loews all that much anyways.

AMC and Harkins are the two big players here in Phoenix. Harkins is the best IMHO as they use JBL or better speakers. (Saw a film in both within one day of each other with the same trailers and the Harkins sound system blew the AMC one out of the water.)

But a LOEWS complex was scheduled to be built about a half mile from my house, so I was looking forward to see how they'd compete. I assume they'll keep the AMC name in this market as we don't have any Loews currently, so I doubt it'll be any different.

The two AMC theatres I've been too, are great. They make Loews look rundown. So I'm glad this is happening.

I've worked for Loews for years. I just hope they don't start laying off.

No Loews in my area and AMC sold local theaters to Dickinson's, so not much change for me. But Dickinson's and Wallace (the other one in town) only separate shows by 30 minutes at the most. Positive - no more more than 30 advertising -- Negative - dirty theaters.

Loews was pretty much the dominant chain in Chicago for a long time, so I used to frequent it exlusively when I was a kid. However their theaters haven't aged well (at least the one I've attended). The AMC theaters, mostly because they're newer, are much nicer experiences.....except for the City North, thats just asking for a bad experience!

The only AMC here in Manhattan is on the new 42nd Street, with 25 screens. The complex is really great, and when it was being planned, they actually incorporated one of the older movie theaters into the design. (They actually MOVED the entire old theatre about 200 yards to get it into a better position for the new structure.)

What's interesting is that directly across the street is a 13-screen Loews. Guess this is one way to do away with the competition ....

When AMC gobbled up General Cinemas, at least here in Chicago, they simply rebranded all the GC's to AMC's. (Granted neithr had that many theaters, AMC only had 2).

Loews has a lot more screens in the area, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. My main concern is the fate of 600 N. Michigan and River East, one Loews one AMC, about 3 blocks apart, one opened at about the time the other renovated. Why do I care....because they're the only two theaters in the Chicago city limits with DLP projectors, so I don't want either to go away.

The Crown theater in Skokie is only 2 blocks from the city border.

Shaumberg Loews has DLP. I always wanted to take trip down and watch movie if one happens to make use of that screen. Is it a good modern theater?

I actually think Loews are cheap bastards since the only DLP screen is the one at Rio in Gaithersburg Maryland and they didn't take the time or money to install a system at the "newer" intown Georgetown theatre. I'm hoping the new AMC at Tyson's Corner has a DLP screen (please, please, please).

Yeah, but I'm straight west of downtown....I'd have to loop down the Ike and up the Kennedy to get their, which I've done a few times and hope to never do again

Well, after a talk with my manager, it looks like my place won't be closing due to the location. We had inspectors come in today so a lot of questions were answered.

As it is, it looks like our Loews is going to be rebranded as AMC. No more Loews insignia.

There'll be a staff meeting in the morning that I'll have to attend; if anyone has any questions, I'll raise them.

DonnachaOne, I'm just wondering if it will simply be a rebranding or will they do renovations. Also do you know if this deal could possibly push digital projectors into the theatres more? It seems to me AMC was more on top of that than Loews, but I could be wrong.

Hey, no more "Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man" I think we all win on that one....I enjoy Pump It Up: The Movie much more

Nothing new to report besides what my manager's already been told, and what I've told you. All we know is that there'll be changes rolled out over the next six to nine months. What changes? We don't know.

I doubt that DLP will be bolstered by the acquisition. So far, it looks like the theaters will remain the same, but with different signs. When I know different, I'll say.