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Dalian Wanda Group
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Dalian Wanda says reports about AMC’s imminent bankruptcy are ‘pure rumours’ as stock, bond prices signal distress amid pandemic

  • US-listed AMC Entertainment has furloughed staff including CEO after closing 1,000-odd theatres amid coronavirus pandemic
  • Its stock and bond prices have plunged, signalling distress following credit rating cuts

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A cyclist rides his bike by an AMC theatre during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco. The future of AMC cinemas remains in question after shuttering all of its theatres and furloughing all its staff. Photo: Getty Images
Yujing Liu
Dalian Wanda Group, the entertainment and property group owned by one of China’s wealthiest men, has described reports that its AMC Entertainment cinema chain is facing imminent collapse as speculation even as its bonds are trading at distressed levels, while its stock crashed this year.
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“The recent online media speculation that Wanda’s AMC was filing for bankruptcy is pure rumours,” Wanda said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. The company did not immediately respond to email requests to elaborate on its terse statement.

The New York Post reported that the Kansas City-based cinema operator had reached out to the bankruptcy legal firm Weil Gotshal & Manges.

AMC’s shares have lost 70 per cent in market value this year, while credit downgrades weighed on US$2.8 billion of bonds, leaving them to fetch about 30 cents on the dollar.

The world’s largest theatre operator, AMC had to close more than 1,000 theatres and furlough all of its 24,000 staff in the US, including Chief Executive Adam Aron, at the end of March to preserve cash as deteriorating coronavirus pandemic kept patrons away from enclosed public space such as cinemas.

The coronavirus sickened more than 600,000 people and claimed more than 25,000 lives in the US, making the country the world’s epicentre for the pandemic.

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