Dalian Wanda Group, Chinese Company, To Purchase AMC Entertainment

http://www.huffingtonpost.c...p-amc_n_1531852.html

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

Dalian Wanda Group Co.'s purchase reflects the global ambitions of a wave of cash-rich Chinese companies that are using acquisitions to speed their expansion by obtaining foreign skills and brand names.

Wanda said the deal will create the world's biggest movie theater operator. The Beijing-based company said it will invest an additional $500 million to fund AMC's development. AMC operates 346 cinemas, mostly in the United States and Canada, and says it has 23 of the 50 highest-grossing U.S. outlets.

"We support AMC becoming bigger, not only in the United States but in the global market," said Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin at a signing ceremony for the acquisition.

The deal reflects rising Chinese investment in U.S. corporate assets despite disputes between the two governments over trade and political issues such as this month's diplomatic standoff over a blind Chinese legal activist.

The deal is the third-largest Chinese corporate investment in the United States, according to financial research firm Dealogic. It ranks behind investments by Beijing's sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp., of $5 billion in Morgan Stanley and $3 billion in Blackstone Group LP, both for minority stakes in 2007.

Chinese companies had invested $34.8 billion in the United States by the end of 2011 in industries including auto parts, agriculture and steelmaking, according to data compiled by Derek Scissors, a China analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Globally, outbound mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies total $16.8 billion so far this year, up 6 percent from the same period last year, according to Dealogic.

Wanda said AMC's American management will remain in place and the headquarters will stay in the Kansas City area. It said staff numbers were not expected to affected. The company employs some 18,500 people.

Wanda, founded in 1988 and privately owned, operates hotels, department stores, tourism and other businesses and says it had 2011 revenue of $16.7 billion. The company employs 50,000 people and its assets include 86 theaters in China.

AMC's owners include Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group, CCMP Capital Advisors and Spectrum Equity Investors.

AMC has reported losses for the past three years but its CEO, Gerry Lopez, said it has returned to profit this year due to strong ticket sales.

Wang, the Wanda chairman, said AMC's financial problems were due to the cost of servicing high debt. He said conditions should improve once an injection of Wanda's cash allows it to pay off some of that.

"We are confident that after the merger, AMC will turn positive," he said. "We have absolute confidence in the future of the company."

The acquisition comes as Hollywood is looking to China both for its fast-growing audience and for production partners.

Walt Disney Co. has said its next "Iron Man" movie will be co-produced with a Chinese partner and "Chinese elements" will be added to the story to increase its local appeal. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. unveiled a venture in March with three Chinese companies to make animated and live action material.

Wang said Wanda has applied to China's government for a license to import movies, a right held now by two state-owned companies. But he said the AMC acquisition concerned only film exhibition, not production or distribution.

"We have no plans to promote Chinese films in the United States," Wang said. "Mr. Lopez will decide what movies will be shown" in AMC theaters.

Wanda's investment will allow AMC to speed up renovation of some cinemas and install more 3-D and IMAX technology, Lopez said.

Wang and Lopez said the two companies plan to share experience in the film business and will have executives from each country visit the other. Lopez said they have not made detailed plans about such things as a possible exchange of staff.

Lopez is to join the board of directors of Wanda's cinema unit, while a Wanda executive will join AMC's board, Wang said.

Wang said Wanda is considering more acquisitions abroad for its entertainment, hotel and retail units. He said it might try to buy into a global hotel brand or a hotel management company but gave no details.

"We want to be a big company, not just in China but in the world," he said.
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I have always assumed I would have to eventually learn Spanish. Now, it appears Chinese also, but which dialect? Surely, not all of them. Will the illegal aliens have to learn Chinese also (wait, our laws don't apply to them). Are we now gonna have Spanish, English and Chinese street signs also. I'm so confused. Well at least my Japanese made big screen tv helps me avoid filling the Chinese pockets with more American coin. Yeah, just a little frustrated here but, I'm told I'll get over it. Just need a take the advise of that fortune cookie I guess.

------------------
Ron
The key thing is to wake up breathing! All the rest can be fixed. (Except Stupid - You can't fix that)
Always remember these words of wisdom.

"The Lord must truly love fools, for he made them in abundance."

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 05-21-2012).]

quote "We want to be a big company, not just in China but in the world," he said.

translation: "I'm a greedy m-fer, and I want more money!"

What the hell is wrong with posting $15.7 billion in profits?

wwIII china will win without fie'n a shot, and wall stret is todays trader.. sorry for the pun

quote Originally posted by 1988holleyformula: translation: "I'm a greedy m-fer, and I want more money!" What the hell is wrong with posting $15.7 billion in profits?

At what point should a compay stop growing to avoid being greedy?

At whichever point they like.

That said, I'll still stand by my opinon that the CEO of Dalian Wanda Group is still a greedy person.

I guess I'm just ashamed that the CEO of American Multi-Cinema Entertainment Holdings feels the need to sell out to a Chinese corporation. Does s/he have no pride in American ownership?

Get on board or get left behind.
Profit don't know & don't care about patriotism.

This is a new global world.
The days of ............solely "American" whatever...............is gone.
We're not the only salesmen on the block anymore.
Get while the gettins' good, then get gone.

Get on board or get left behind.

Does this mean they are going to go legit and not allow black market copies of movies anymore? That would be cutting into their profits if they continue to allow that practice.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: Get on board or get left behind. Profit don't know & don't care about patriotism. This is a new global world. The days of ............solely "American" whatever...............is gone. We're not the only salesmen on the block anymore. Get while the gettins' good, then get gone. Get on board or get left behind.

sorry not buy'n that load of crapola.. protectionism is alive and well in the world economy, free trade, that tarriffs the living crab out of our goods, so that say, china's item gets the nod, or japans,
untill the free trade becomes a two way street, instead of the one way it is now.. getting on board is a fools game, that will only "work" short term.. and bury you long term..
force the rules to be equal across the board or get left behind... but don't go blindly into it..
buying american is cheaper in the long run than buy'n the imported good that put 1000's on the taxpayers backs when the factory closed up..
ya that made in china junk you just bought at wally world was 5 bucks less than the onemade here.. but you just payed out a 100.oo for every one buck you saved, by having so many on the government tet, that want to work..
like I said, if you think short term, boon your correct, long term is where the smart money is.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: At what point should a compay stop growing to avoid being greedy?

As long as they don't abuse their monopoly power, as big as they want.

quote Originally posted by E.Furgal: sorry not buy'n that load of crapola.. protectionism is alive and well in the world economy, free trade, that tarriffs the living crab out of our goods, so that say, china's item gets the nod, or japans, untill the free trade becomes a two way street, instead of the one way it is now.. getting on board is a fools game, that will only "work" short term.. and bury you long term.. force the rules to be equal across the board or get left behind... but don't go blindly into it.. buying american is cheaper in the long run than buy'n the imported good that put 1000's on the taxpayers backs when the factory closed up.. ya that made in china junk you just bought at wally world was 5 bucks less than the onemade here.. but you just payed out a 100.oo for every one buck you saved, by having so many on the government tet, that want to work.. like I said, if you think short term, boon your correct, long term is where the smart money is.

I heard it this way:
If someone next door is making & selling something for X-dollars, if you want to compete, you gotta' make & sell it for less then he does.
The market demands it.
Isn't that want this capitalism is all about?

And from the peoples point of view, the less they spend on an object, the more they save for other things.

I think what the real problem some have with this is that they still think we are back in the days when we were the only country making stuff & selling stuff.
For ourselves and to others.

Now there are other countries making and selling stuff.
They are doing exactly what we showed them how to do.
It's just that they are doing it cheaper.
Yes, it sucks that they can pay their people hardly nothing, and their people accept it because it's better then nothing, but that is their thing, not ours.
And because of that, we can't compete.

But it is what it is.
It's a global market place.
We better find a way to compete, or we gonna' get left behind.

But I don't know nothing about it more then just that vauge idea of how it "works".

quote Originally posted by avengador1: Does this mean they are going to go legit and not allow black market copies of movies anymore? That would be cutting into their profits if they continue to allow that practice.

Nah! It just means the boot-legged copies will be of much better quality. They'll now be able to make direct copies without having to smuggle cameras into the theater.

quote Originally posted by blackrams: I have always assumed I would have to eventually learn Spanish. Now, it appears Chinese also, but which dialect? Surely, not all of them. Will the illegal aliens have to learn Chinese also (wait, our laws don't apply to them). Are we now gonna have Spanish, English and Chinese street signs also. I'm so confused. Well at least my Japanese made big screen tv helps me avoid filling the Chinese pockets with more American coin. Yeah, just a little frustrated here but, I'm told I'll get over it. Just need a take the advise of that fortune cookie I guess.

"That gibberish he talked was city-speak, guttertalk, a mismash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you. "