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This topic comprises 7 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Author
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Topic: AMC Buys Carmike
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Martin McCaffery
Film God
Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 11-15-2016 01:01 PM
And it's ON:
Variety
quote:
Carmike Shareholders Approve AMC’s $1.2 Billion Takeover
Brent Lang
Senior Film and Media Editor
@BrentALang
NOVEMBER 15, 2016 | 09:07AM PT
Carmike shareholders approved a deal on Tuesday for the theater chain to sell itself to AMC Entertainment for $1.2 billion. The combined company will be the largest exhibitor in the world, bypassing Regal Entertainment.
More than 86% of the shares voted at the meeting were in favor of the merger, representing approximately 72% of Carmike’s outstanding shares, the company said.
In a statement, Carmike CEO David Passman said “this transaction creates an opportunity to deliver an even more compelling movie-going experience to more guests in many more locations across the country.”
Last summer, AMC was forced to sweeten its original $1.1 billion offer after several shareholders complained that it undervalued Carmike.
The deal with Carmike gives AMC more than 600 theater locations in 45 states across the country, including the District of Columbia. It expands the company’s geographic profile in other ways — AMC tends to have a stronger presence in urban markets, while Carmike is more associated with rural areas.
AMC was itself acquired in 2012 by China’s Dalian Wanda Group for $2.6 billion. Dalian Wanda has been on a spending spree in the past several months, reaching deals to buy the likes Odeon & UCI Cinemas, Legendary Entertainment, and Dick Clark Productions. The purchases are drawing some blowback. Some leaders in congress have asked regulators to see if stricter restrictions need to be considered to stop foreign powers from having an outsized control of U.S. media companies.
At the same time, D.C. lobbyist Richard Berman has been orchestrating a public relations campaign against Wanda’s moves and has put up billboards that raise alarm about Chinese ownership of AMC. In a statement following news of the shareholder vote, Berman decried the pact as a Chinese soft power play.
“The American public should be aware of how the Chinese government is expanding its sphere of influence overseas,” he said.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-16-2016 10:37 AM
quote: Carmike CEO David Passman
“This transaction creates an opportunity to deliver an even more compelling movie-going experience to more guests in many more locations across the country."
I laughed when I read that piece of corporate bullshit-speak. More compelling movie-going experiences? The movie industry is running head-long in the opposite direction of delivering that.
Hollywood studios have already been making movies ever more bland, predictable, gentrified, etc. in attempts to keep their parent company overlords happy. The overlords absolutely hate taking chances on any new ideas. Unfortunately new ideas are the very thing that keeps the entertainment industry alive. Save the Cat! is the New New Testament to these guys. "American" movies are now being watered down even more for Chinese viewers and Chinese government censors. The latest in sound and projection technology or recliner seating isn't going to fix a bland, predictable script. And the high ticket and refreshment prices are the equivalent of sticking a Gucci label on a turd.
Speaking of presentation technology, buy-outs like this AMC takeover of Carmike threaten to dramatically cut efforts to invest in the theaters to make presentation quality better. With less competition these companies will have even greater luxury to coast. They'll be able to leave things like blown speaker drivers broken longer or broken permanently. We all know this is a horrible thing to do in practice. But I think executives at theater chains and movie studios have already been taking movie theater customers for granted for a long time. They think the audiences will keep paying to see the movies like they've always done. Never mind the threat of ever improving home entertainment quality and more sources of home entertainment. But that's where those parent global media companies come in to play. The companies merge and get bigger in a never ending attempt to blockade the choices of viewers.
quote: Variety Article
The deal with Carmike gives AMC more than 600 theater locations in 45 states across the country, including the District of Columbia. It expands the company’s geographic profile in other ways — AMC tends to have a stronger presence in urban markets, while Carmike is more associated with rural areas.
I think it would have been more accurate to say Carmike's theater locations are concentrated in small to medium sized cities. The term "rural" almost sounds like an insult. I suppose to someone writing an entertainment article in the sprawl of Los Angeles a modest sized city of 100,000 residents might as well be an outpost on the moon.
AMC has some overlap in the same "rural" areas. AMC is the latest owner of our kinda crappy Central Mall theater in Lawton. With our 1st run theater market monopolized I think there is now only one factor or chance AMC could build a new theater in downtown Lawton: getting out from under very high Central Mall rent prices. I think our local 70's era mall will fall into a state of crisis soon. Sears was one of the mall's original anchor tenants. I think it's only a matter of time before Sears/Kmart gets liquidated. JCPenny's was closed for months after serious flooding damage (the store is set to re-open this weekend). Anyway, I think it's a losing proposition to run a poorly designed, small 12-plex in a mall that is widely blamed for ruining our city's original downtown.
quote: Variety Article
Dalian Wanda has been on a spending spree in the past several months, reaching deals to buy the likes Odeon & UCI Cinemas, Legendary Entertainment, and Dick Clark Productions. The purchases are drawing some blowback.
Uh, yeah, "blowback" that is more than 25 years overdue. At this point any complaints from lawmakers could draw laughs. These guys have been Rip Van Winkle in terms of their oversight on what has happened to America's entertainment industry. The music industry is a shadow of its former self. The movie industry is headed the same direction. Creativity has been one of America's greatest strengths. All these global mergers and acquisitions are trying hard to suffocate that creativity and ruin America's dominance of world popular culture.
quote: Richard Sherman, D.C. Lobbyist
“The American public should be aware of how the Chinese government is expanding its sphere of influence overseas.”
At this point, any influence and propaganda from the Chinese government would just get in line with all the home-grown influence and propaganda being spouted by our big media companies, elected leaders and "alt" sites whoring for page views on the Internet. The concept of objectivity is pretty much dead in the United States. America's general public seems to be perfectly happy with that.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-16-2016 01:52 PM
quote: Frank Cox
I have read a few articles lately stating that malls in general are feeling the pinch. More and more people are shopping for stuff online, avoiding the crowds and traffic, and that leads to less foot traffic overall in the malls.
Brick and mortar retail stores have been getting hurt badly by online shopping. The crowds and traffic at shopping malls can be annoying, but people generally like getting out of the house and going to places where there's lots of other people. But people might love a bargain even more.
Sales tax is by far the main culprit why brick and mortar retail is getting killed by online merchants. Customers will go "show rooming," checking out a new TV set or other big ticket item at a retail store, then go home and order it on Amazon and save a couple hundred bucks via no sales tax. This problem will only continue getting worse as long as the unfair imbalance remains. I suppose customers will only start caring about this issue when they start losing their own jobs over it. They still won't care if it's just the local tax base getting decimated by the problem.
Aside from sales tax and online shopping, the indoor shopping mall concept has become widely hated by urban planners. The "lifestyle center" or "town center" concept is all the rage now. The shopping center is still mostly a shopping mall. Instead of everything being joined together in one indoor building the shops all have outdoor entrances with sidewalks, trees, landscaping and in some cases even streets with a few parking spots out front. Most of these places still have at least a couple or so big parking lots, but the lots aren't wrapping all the way around an isolated mall building anymore.
I think these town center style malls are trying to mimic trendy shopping and entertainment districts found in some giant cities and tourist attractions. They ditch the bland 70's looks and climate control of an indoor shopping mall, but can't shake the sterilized feel of gentrification. A truly "hip" shopping and entertainment district needs unique, independent stores, restaurants and night spots not found anywhere else.
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