Odeon executives visit AMC

Earlier this summer, AMC Theatres announced it was acquiring the largest theatre exhibitor in Europe, London-based Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group. Odeon executives Paul Donovan, Chief Executive Officer, Ian Shepherd, Group Chief Commercial Officer, and Mark Way, Chief Financial Officer, traveled from Odeon’s headquarters in London to AMC’s home office in Leawood, Kansas for meetings with Adam Aron, AMC's CEO and President, and other senior AMC executives regarding the acquisition.

With 242 theatres and 2,236 screens, Odeon & UCI is currently the #1 theatre operator in Europe. It is the #1 theatre operator in the UK & Ireland, Italy and Spain; the #2 theatre operator in Austria and Portugal; and the #4 theatre operator in Germany. The combination of AMC and Odeon & UCI will result in AMC’s operation of 627 theatres and more than 7,600 screens in eight countries, making it the largest movie theatre chain in the world.

“I’ve described AMC’s acquisition of Odeon as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to acquire Europe’s leading cinema chain,” said Adam Aron, AMC CEO. “With this opportunistic transaction, we will be moving closer to Chairman Wang Jianlin’s goal of Wanda participating in 20 percent of the global movie business by 2020.”

AMC also is currently in a process to acquire the fourth-largest, US-based theatre exhibitor, Carmike Cinemas. When both transactions are completed, AMC will operate more than 900 movie theatres with more than 10,500 screens across the globe. This will even further AMC's lead as being the largest theatre operator worldwide.