Expected to join AMC in the public arena is Cinemark USA, the third-largest exhibitor. Regal Entertainment Group, the largest, is publicly traded.
AMC
announced last month that it had joined with Regal and Cinemark to
create a company that would help the three exhibitors convert to
digital technology.
It’s the second joint venture involving the three, following the formation of the on-screen advertising company National CineMedia.
The three partners sold 40.5 percent of that company in February, with AMC raising $490 million, which it used to pay down debt.
AMC
went private in December 2004 after operating as a publicly traded
company since 1983. It continued to make limited filings with the SEC,
however, because some of its debt was public.
AMC’s revenues for
the 52 weeks ending March 30 were $1.68 billion, compared with $1.7
billion the previous year. Its loss was $191 million, compared with
$174 million the previous year.
Earlier this week, AMC restated
its financial reports from the past two years to correct errors in
calculating stock option expenses, which increased its 2006 annual loss
by $2.1 million.