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AMC Stock Plunged 34% on Settlement Approval Without Opt-Out

Simon Mugo trader
Updated 14 Aug 2023

The AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) stock price plunged 33.7% at 7:57 EST after a Delaware judge approved the revised stockholder settlement on Friday. The judge who had rejected an earlier deal also did not allow shareholders to opt out of the deal, saying that such a move would be detrimental to the company.


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AMC now has the go-ahead to convert its preferred shares trading under the ticker symbols APE into its common shares, which explains why APE shares were trading up 29.21%, while AMC shares were down 28.52% at writing.

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The deal requires AMC to provide shares worth $129 million of its common stock to settle potential legal claims related to a stock conversion plan. All shareholders are bound to the plan after the judge reiterated that such a move was not feasible and would jeopardize the company’s future. 

AMC is the outright winner in the settlement, followed closely by APE holders, who will now have the opportunity to convert their preferred shares into common shares with voting rights. The company told the court that it was burning through cash at an alarming rate and was in dire financial straits. 

However, the shareholders who had opted out of the deal claimed that AMC’s finances were okay and that it was not in dire straits. Over 2,800 investors had petitioned the judge to opt out of the settlement to sue AMC separately. 

The class action settlement approved by Delaware Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn settles all claims by the ordinary shareholders. The settlement was approved after AMC removed the portion of settling claims by preferred shareholders that were not part of the initial lawsuit. 

AMC was sued in February for allegedly rigging a shareholder vote to allow it to convert preferred stock into common stock and issue hundreds of millions of new shares. The company noted that the conversion would help pay down some of its massive $5.1 billion debt. 

Under the approved settlement, common stockholders would own 37.15% of the company’s outstanding shares, while preferred shareholders would own 62.85%. 

AMC Entertainment (AMC) stock price. 

The AMC Entertainment stock price was trading down 33.65% at $3.49 after falling from Friday’s closing price of $5.26.


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Simon has over six years of professional trading experience across FX, commodities and equities. He has a strong passion for financial markets and is particularly focused on price action trading
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