This Story First Appeared On Source Media’s Mergers & Acquisitions, Original Reporting By Kamaron Leach.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC), operating as AMC Theatres, is buying Nordic Cinema Group for its portfolio of 68 movie theaters. The deal is worth $929 million in cash and also includes target’s nearly 50% ownership in another 201 movie screens associated with Nordic. AMC anticipates realizing $5 million in annual cost synergies as part of the deal.
Nordic, based in Stockholm, Sweden, manages 463 screens and 68,000 seats amongst its theatres in the Nordic and Baltic nations. Previously owned by European private equity firm Bridgepoint and Swedish media business Bonnier Holding, Nordic generated revenues of approximately $349 million in 2015. The target will retain its headquarters location in Stockholm and operate as a subsidiary of London-based Odeon Cinemas Group, a company with which AMC acquired in November 2016, as part of the deal. Nordic operates locally in seven markets using several brands, including: SF Bio in Sweden, SF Kino in Norway, Finnkino in Finland, and Forum Cinemas in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
AMC Theatres is one of the largest motion picture exhibitors in the U.S. with additional operations in Europe and across the globe. As part of the deal for Nordic, AMC will reach the milestone of 1,000 movie theaters with 11,000 screens. Odeon, AMC’s European operation, will increase to 361 theaters and 2,926 screens with Nordic. The buyer expects to complete the transaction before Jun. 30, 2017.
The movie and media business is a daunting, yet very lucrative business when done right. In fact, Kohlberg & Co. LLC recently made a deal for research analytics firm MarketCast LLC for the target’s data insights and advisory services into the entertainment business. Other deals involving the entertainment and media business includes: AMC Networks Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AMCX) $65 million investment in RLJ Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: RLJE), a company backed by the founder of Black Entertainment Television; Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc.’s agreement to buy European pay-TV provider Sky Plc for nearly $14.6 billion; Moore Frères & Company’s completed purchase of Opera TV for its over-the-top (OTT) video streaming software; and Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE: DIS) June 2016 agreement to buy a one-third stake in the video-streaming unit of MLB Advanced Media.