AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. shares fell more than 5% Tuesday after the company completed its latest at-the-market equity offering, raising approximately $350 million.
The equity capital was raised through the sale of approximately 48 million shares, at an average price of approximately $7.29 per share, AMC
AMC,
said in a statement released late Monday.
AMC’s move is the latest in the company’s push to reduce its debt burden, which was more than $5 billion in 2022. The equity offering, which was launched Nov. 9, and repurchased debt or exchanged debt for equity reduces the company’s liabilities by $62.28 million, AMC said.
“Successfully raising an additional $350 million of equity capital and reducing debt by more than $62 million in a single month underscores our continued commitment to strengthen our balance sheet by bolstering liquidity and methodically reducing debt levels,” AMC CEO Adam Aron said in the company’s statement.
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Shares of AMC ended Tuesday’s session down 5.5%. The stock is down 81.3% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
gain of 21%.
The equity offering brings the total cash raised by AMC since Sept. 1 to $675 million, and the total cash raised in calendar year 2023 to $865 million, Aron tweeted Tuesday.
“We realize that there are some who question these strategies in social media, and sometimes loudly,” he added. “But they do not shoulder the responsibility of guiding a multi-billion-dollar enterprise through highly challenging circumstances, and they fundamentally do not understand how absolutely vital — indeed essential — it is that AMC have robust cash reserves.”
Aron has repeatedly warned that the movie-theater chain faces liquidity challenges.
The original meme-stock darling swung to profit and reported positive net income for the second straight quarter in its third-quarter results, released last month. AMC ended the quarter with cash of $729.7 million.
Related: AMC’s strong third-quarter results lift movie-theater stocks
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