stock markets

Stock conversion allows China’s Wanda to sell AMC shares amid retail frenzy

Reuters

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Stock conversion allows China’s Wanda to sell AMC shares amid retail frenzy

AMC. An AMC theater is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 27, 2021.

Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Wanda Group still owns a controlling stake in AMC Entertainment, one of the companies caught up in the retail trading frenzy

China’s Wanda Group, the major shareholder in AMC Entertainment Holdings Ltd, conducted a share conversion to permit sales of its stock in the cinema operator, a target of the recent WallStreetBets retail frenzy, AMC said in an exchange filing.

Wanda America Entertainment Incorporated, a Wanda unit, converted its Class B common stock in AMC to Class A shares on February 1 “in order to permit sales of its common stock,” AMC said in the filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 5.

The filing did not give details on the amount of stock converted to Class A shares or say whether Wanda had sold any shares in AMC. Wanda did not immediately return a request for comment.

AMC shares touched $17.25 on February 1, almost quadrupling from a week earlier, as social media platforms such as Reddit fueled frenetic retail buying into heavily-shorted stocks such as AMC and GameStop.

AMC shares plunged 41% the next day and the stock is now down about 60% from its February 1 peak.

The social media-fueled trading frenzy has cooled over the past few days as US financial regulators scrutinize GameStop’s Reddit-driven stock surge.

Wanda, whose businesses range from real estate to entertainment, bought a majority stake in AMC in 2012 for $2.6 billion, in what was then the largest overseas acquisition by a privately held Chinese company.

In 2018, the once-acquisitive Chinese conglomerate trimmed its exposure to the US cinema operator amid tighter regulatory scrutiny by Beijing over Chinese companies’ overseas expansion.

Wanda still owns a controlling stake in AMC, according to the group’s website. Wanda also owns Hollywood producer Legendary Entertainment and Australian cinema chain Hoyts Cinema, the website said. – Rappler.com 

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!