AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres), commonly known as AMC (originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema), is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. AMC is the largest movie exhibition company in the United States, the largest in Europe and the largest throughout the world with approximately 860 theatres and 9,600 screens across the globe.[4] It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday, December 20, 1920. The company expanded quickly across Missouri and with significant expansion into its current home state of Kansas. AMC Theatres quickly dominated the landscape of multiplex theatres solidifying itself as a leader in the film exhibition industry in the 20th century. After acquiring Odeon Cinemas, UCI Cinemas, and Carmike Cinemas in 2016, it became the largest movie theater chain in the world. It has 2,807 screens in 353 European theaters and 7,755 screens in 593 American theaters. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: AMC); from 2012 to 2018, the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group owned a majority stake in the company. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners made a $600 million investment in AMC in September 2018, but the voting power of AMC shares was structured so that Wanda Group still controlled the majority of AMC's board of directors. Amid financial downturns caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns, in January 2021, Wanda's ownership was increasingly diluted due to new financing by AMC, as well as short squeezes that resulted in Silver Lake converting its $600 million debt holding to equity. In early February 2021, Wanda converted its Class B shares to Class A shares, thus reducing its voting power to less than 50%. On May 21, 2021, Wanda filed a 0.002% stake with the SEC, largely confirming the end of their involvement in AMC.
