Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: AMC buying most or all of Kerasotes complexes

This is topic AMC buying most or all of Kerasotes complexes in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=002310

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-19-2010, 03:40 PM:

There has been a lot of buzz going around that AMC is buying up most complexes run by Kerasotes theaters. However the three newest plexes in Chicago are supposedly not being purchased as part of the deal, however I am not 100% sure on that.

Discuss.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 01-19-2010, 04:03 PM:

I believe it.

They put in a bid for Consolidated Theatres in 2007 and Regal beat them to the punch.

It is no surprise they would make a bid for Kerasotes. Let see if it goes through....

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 01-19-2010, 04:15 PM:

I think of the three that aren't affected, only one is in Chicago (the new ICON), the others would be the ICON in MN and the location in Secaucus, NJ.

From a strictly personal level, if that indeed is what happens, it'll neaten up my resume in that 5 of the 7 theatre chains I have worked for will all be nicely located under the AMC heading: Cineplex Odeon (which was taken over by Loews); Loews (which was taken over by AMC); AMC; Crown (which was taken over by Kerasotes); and Kerasotes (which, if this is true, will be taken over by AMC).

I haven't worked for AMC since 2000 though, how is the company to work for these days?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-19-2010, 04:47 PM:

From what I can tell, they're a lot better than they used to be, especially in regards to their theater design. They are no longer bothered by Larry Jacobson so they put in normal, non-Torus screens and locate their surrounds on the wall instead of the ceiling. United Artists had a party at corporate headquarters after he left and I imagine AMC did the same.

As for working for them, I can't say. Anyone?

Dennis, I guess AMC put in the bid quite a while ago, but only recently has it gone through. I guess it is pretty much a done deal.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-19-2010, 06:16 PM:

This came in today's email. I don't have time to read the whole thing but hopefully it has all the pertinent info. Joe is right about "not all" their complexes being sold:

quote: Business Wire
Business Wire
AMC Entertainment® and Kerasotes Theatres Announce Entry into Definitive Agreement
Posted on : 2010-01-19 | Author : AMC Entertainment
News Category : PressRelease

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (Business Wire) AMC Entertainment Inc. (“AMC”), and Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, LLC (“Kerasotes”), two leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment companies in the U.S., announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which AMC will acquire substantially all of the assets of Kerasotes. Kerasotes owns 96 theatres and 973 screens in mid-sized, suburban and metropolitan markets, primarily in the Midwest. More than three quarters of the Kerasotes theatres feature stadium seating and almost 90 percent have been newly built since 1994. Following the consummation of the proposed transaction, Tony and Dean Kerasotes will retain and operate their two new ICON concept theatres in Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL; and one Showplace theatre in Secaucus, NJ. Kerasotes is currently owned by the Kerasotes family and Providence Equity Partners.
"Combining Kerasotes’ highly regarded assets and operations with our own is a natural way for us to continue re-defining the future of our industry,” said Gerry Lopez, AMC CEO and president. “With almost 200 years in the exhibition business between us, our collective experiences and our complementary geographic footprints will allow us to maintain the reputation for excellence and leadership that is part of each company’s culture.”

“Our team has delivered a consistent, high quality experience for customers, and we have appreciated Providence’s partnership over the last six years in helping Kerasotes grow into the sixth largest motion picture exhibition company in North America,” said Tony Kerasotes, Chief Executive Officer. “We expect these theatres will be a strong addition to the AMC theatre circuit, and look forward to successfully completing the transaction with AMC and to beginning our next chapter.”

Completion of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions for transactions of this type, including Department of Justice antitrust approval.

Kerasotes Theatres’ financial advisor was Peter J. Solomon Company, LP.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, as well as reports and other information that AMC files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. The words “forecast,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “believe” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, which may cause AMC’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: national, regional and local economic conditions that may affect the markets in which AMC and AMC’s joint venture investees operate; the levels of expenditures on entertainment in general and movie theatres in particular; increased competition within movie exhibition or other competitive entertainment mediums; technological changes and innovations, including alternative methods for delivering movies to consumers; the popularity of theatre attendance and major motion picture releases; shifts in population and other demographics; AMC’s ability to renew expiring contracts at favorable rates, or to replace them with new contracts that are comparably favorable to AMC; the timely satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Kerasotes acquisition, including receipt of antitrust approval; AMC’s ability to integrate the Kerasotes theatres with minimal disruption to its business; AMC’s need for, and ability to obtain, additional funding for acquisitions and operations; AMC’s ability to successfully collect amounts we are contractually entitled to from the sale of Cinemex; risks and uncertainties relating to AMC’s significant indebtedness; fluctuations in operating costs; capital expenditure requirements; changes in interest rates; and changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines. This list of factors that may affect future performance and the accuracy of forward-looking statements is illustrative but not exhaustive. In addition, new risks and uncertainties may arise from time to time. Accordingly, all forward-looking statements should be evaluated with an understanding of their inherent uncertainty. Except as required by law, AMC assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

About AMC Entertainment Inc.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., AMC Entertainment Inc. is a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company. With a history of industry leadership and innovation dating back to 1920, the company today serves hundreds of millions of guests annually through interests in 304 theatres with 4,574 screens in five countries. www.amcentertainment.com

About Kerasotes Theatres

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Kerasotes is the sixth largest motion picture exhibition company in North America and the largest movie theater operator in the Midwest, with 973 screens in 96 locations, primarily in the Midwest. The privately held company was founded in 1909 by Gus Kerasotes and is operated by the third generation as a family owned business. Visit www.kerasotes.com and www.showplaceicon.com for additional information.

AMC Entertainment
Sun Dee Larson, 816-480-5861
slarson@amctheatres.com
or
Kerasotes Showplace Theatres
James DeBruzzi, 312-756-3365
jdebruzzi@kerasotes.com

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-19-2010, 06:37 PM:

I have heard bizarre rumors that AMC likes their booth team or at least the booth manager to have college degrees. I can't fathom needing a college degree to work at any position in a movie theater (management included), especially given the pay rate. Anyone else heard of this one?

Posted by Jeff Leyland (Member # 1092) on 01-19-2010, 07:45 PM:

Kerasotes Webster Place 11 was sold by AMC when they bought Loews, and the City North 14 when AMC bought General Cinema. Won't they have to sell off something in the Chicago market to satisfy the government?

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 01-19-2010, 08:28 PM:

quote: Jeff Leyland
Kerasotes Webster Place 11 was sold by AMC when they bought Loews, and the City North 14 when AMC bought General Cinema.

Yes, sold to Kerasotes! So, now do they become AMC once again? Or, as Jeff notes, perhaps they'll have to sell off various assets to offset antitrust issues or whatever...???

Posted by John Joseph Fink (Member # 3619) on 01-19-2010, 08:47 PM:

I assume the few single screen sites Kerasotes won't last long under AMC as well. Any other markets AMC/Kerasotes overlap in that would cause an anti-trust issue, I don't think Seacacus is a problem (after all the Kerasotes replaced AMC, I'm assuming there may be an issue with Hartz Mountain Industries, I wonder if Kerasotes is still moving ahead with another Hartz project down in Edison, NJ smack between two AMC sites - Menlo Park and Route 1.) I wonder if Rave is looking to move in to Chicago.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-20-2010, 12:07 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I have heard bizarre rumors that AMC likes their booth team or at least the booth manager to have college degrees.

When I worked in the booth at AMC I was the only one with a degree and the manager didn't have one although most of the other guys who were actually out of HS were going to local colleges.

And the booth manager that's there doesn't have a degree AFAIK. And this is a huge complex as well; not one of their smaller places.

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 01-20-2010, 07:09 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I have heard bizarre rumors that AMC likes their booth team or at least the booth manager to have college degrees.

They do prefer management to have degrees/be in the process of obtaining one and generally make it a requirement for those hired from outside the company. Naturally, how firmly this requirement is followed varies slightly between markets.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-20-2010, 12:58 PM:

Would this buyout be similar to when Century sold out to Cinemark whereas the Syufy family didn't need to do this sellout in the first place?

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-20-2010, 02:30 PM:

Majority ownership in Kerasotes Showplace was an investment firm that wanted out.

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 01-20-2010, 04:05 PM:

Then the three theatres they're retaining are likely NOT owned by the investment firm I imagine?

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-20-2010, 07:45 PM:

The majority of the company was sold. [Big Grin]

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 01-23-2010, 05:57 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I have heard bizarre rumors that AMC likes their booth team or at least the booth manager to have college degrees. I can't fathom needing a college degree to work at any position in a movie theater (management included), especially given the pay rate.

Agreed, but I have found those with degrees (in any theater position) to be more conscientious of their work and more personable in their approach. Those who did not attend college still had some good points, but generally felt unsure of their decisions - or down right terrified - to think outside the box. Others I've worked with over the years felt threatened by educated types and were always trying to prove themselves . . . not the best habits for working any projection booth.

For the record:
B.S. in ed., Youngstown State University, 1998

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 01-24-2010, 05:56 PM:

I dunno... I found that the college graduates with no prior theatre experience not only did not last but did not care about the business, or work as hard as the "uneducated" managers with a theatre background.

When I was a manager I was not "above" jumping in to sell popcorn, tickets, or clean theatres, and bathrooms most of the college graduates I worked with felt they were.

Just my $0.02 based on my personal experience.

(I am sure there are many many great and hard working college educated managers out there)

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-24-2010, 06:52 PM:

I'm sure mileage varies on both sides of the fence, but if you are working at a movie theater and you have a college degree, something is clearly wrong. Either you can't find a good job or you can't hold one. Of course, maybe you are just doing the theater part-time (which is cool). Why spend all that money on a degree just to work at a theater full time? College degree holders probably won't last long at a theater since they will be busy trying to find a real job. Movie theaters just don't pay enough to justify earning a degree to work at one, no matter what level of employee you are.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-24-2010, 08:00 PM:

Or maybe they have a college degree and are doing this on the side in addition to being in grad-school? Maybe like myself?

Sure, I could've gotten a regular full-time job with my degree but combining that with trying to do full-time classes just would destroy me.

edit: Also, I've worked with plenty of college grads who had no problem keeping jobs... It's just that there was this thing called the dot-com bubble. All the small internet startups failed and laid people off and then the larger companies started cutting people. So in some of the tech-saturated areas, lots of people with degrees were out of jobs and applying for a smaller pool of tech jobs.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 01-24-2010, 08:55 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
College degree holders probably won't last long at a theater since they will be busy trying to find a real job.

Hell, I worked my way through college as a projectionist, and kept doing it for about 6 years after getting my degree. I've been running the Capri as the only full time employee for almost 25 years.

My degree was in Journalism, so I would have just traded one dying business for another [Wink]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-24-2010, 09:34 PM:

OK so maybe a lot of people have degrees, but they are now kind of useless. [Smile]

Let's all go get a degree in "art". Anyway, college was a lot cheaper 25 years ago, waddunt it?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 01-25-2010, 12:18 AM:

Yes.

In Cali up until Prop 13 was approved in 1978 any Cal State school was free if you were a resident. By 1985 when I went to CSULA the tuition was only about $13/semester credit. Still pretty cheap!

What absolutely sucks about school prices today is the cost of textbooks. I know I'd appreciate at least a kiss or a reach around while I'm getting reamed.

And to think I want to go back now and do a graduate program. I guess I'll be using money from my next life to pay for that! Might as well - I'm not working (I'm one of those unemployable grads that Joe mentioned).

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 01-27-2010, 10:47 AM:

As for the whole degree and working at a theatre: I hold a master's degree and left the industry to "utilize" my degrees for a time. However, I quickly discovered that I not only missed the theatre business, but hated more traditional work environments/schedules. Sure, I made more money outside of the industry, but that proved to be less of a factor in my overall well being than I had anticipated. I don't feel I wasted my degrees through returning to the industry either, as I always viewed my education in more of a personal growth/experience fashion, than career precursor.

As for AMC's degree preference. That original intent was to formalize more of a professional business culture. They also rolled out a lot of in-house education programs and "corporate culture" models around the same time the degree ideal emerged. Basically, there was a move to model the company more after "big business" than traditional cinema. I'm not sure how much of this "professional business culture" remains as their goal today, but that was the general idea behind it back when I worked for them.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-27-2010, 11:43 AM:

If they want to model themselves after big business, they should pay like big business.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 01-27-2010, 12:52 PM:

They do Joe. Like Walmart, like McDonald's, like...

Posted by Paul J. Neuhaus (Member # 3205) on 01-27-2010, 01:14 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
OK so maybe a lot of people have degrees, but they are now kind of useless. Let's all go get a degree in "art".

off the subject but some degrees are useless everywhere:
I've met allot of LT's and Captains over the years that are afraid to get out of the Marine Corps because they have Art or History degrees that got them their commission but don't mean snot in the real world!!

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-27-2010, 01:57 PM:

Best of luck to Dean and Tony. I was their technical coordinator back when they were in Springfield. Good guys to work with, and good friends. My only gripe was the involvement with LJ.

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 01-27-2010, 06:19 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
If they want to model themselves after big business, they should pay like big business.

Funny enough, that was one "traditional cinema" feature they weren't as anxious to abandon. I guess some old habits are just too hard to break [Smile]

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 01-27-2010, 07:35 PM:

I dunno Joe... When I was with Loews a GM at a busy large complex could earn close to or in a few cases above $100,000.00 a year. That's not chump change.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-27-2010, 07:49 PM:

Also, you are in New York. $100,000 a year there is like 40K a year everywhere else. [Smile]

Posted by Paul J. Neuhaus (Member # 3205) on 01-28-2010, 02:18 AM:

I agree with Joe. What might sound like a big number isn't always the case when you figure in cost of living. I know a lot of people in the DC area that have to make 70K + just to live meager!

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 01-28-2010, 12:20 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
Also, you are in New York. $100,000 a year there is like 40K a year everywhere else.

you are right about that Joe! Money does not go any where near as far here as other places!

Well actually when I worked for Loews it was in Massachusetts, The Boston area actually. I am not saying you are going to get rich in this business and I know AMC pays thier GM's a lot less (thats why they have forced out a lot of the Loews people from what I have heard)but I could think of worse things to do for a lot less money.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-28-2010, 12:25 PM:

Oh I definitely could, too. But I wouldn't go to college with the aspiration of a career in the movie exhibition industry unless I just wanted to increase my knowledge and/or make social connections. College tuition is crazy expensive these days so it is hard for a movie theater to justify requiring a college degree to work there on any level. Granted, AMC only prefers it, not requires it.

Lowes sounds like they might have been a step above others in pay, though.

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 01-28-2010, 12:28 PM:

I see what you mean Joe,

For someone like me who chose not go to college making 100k as a GM of a busy theatre would be a career goal but I can see how someone who spent 4+ years and a lot of money to go to college would want something more prestigious with weekends and holidays off!

Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 05-30-2010, 02:01 PM:

So, anyway, this happened on Tuesday (May 25)