AMC Rises After Abandoning Plan to Seek Nod for More Shares

(Bloomberg) -- AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. rose as much as 6% after saying it would no longer seek shareholder approval to issue 25 million more shares.

In a filing Tuesday, AMC said the proposal to increase its outstanding shares to about 549 million would no longer be up for a vote at its July 29 annual meeting.

“It's no secret I think shareholders should authorize 25 million more AMC shares,” AMC Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron said in a tweet Tuesday. “But what YOU think is important to us. Many yes, many no. AMC does not want to proceed with such a split.”

The world's largest theater chain proposed the share increase in a separate filing June 3, seeking to capitalize on the Reddit-driven rally that had boosted the so-called meme stock by 2,300% this year to that point. The stock was up more than 2,350% for 2021 through July 2.

AMC had previously sought to authorize 500 million new shares. That proposal was originally up for a vote in May, but the annual meeting was postponed and the request withdrawn after it became clear investors would shoot it down.

Aron said in April that the struggling company could issue about 43 million new shares. With sales of new stock totaling more than $800 million in a single week in early June, AMC completed nearly all of that authorization, according to the June 3 filing.

“There will be no more voting before 2022 on more shares,” Aron said in another tweet Tuesday.

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