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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

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Commission file number 001-33892

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(913) 213-2000

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒ 

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).  Yes ☒ No ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ⌧

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The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2019, computed by reference to the price at which the registrant’s Class A common stock was last sold on the New York Stock Exchange on such date was $485,872,924 (52,076,412 shares at a closing price per share of $9.33).

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Shares of Class A common stock outstanding—52,472,503 shares at February 21, 2020

Shares of Class B common stock outstanding—51,769,784 shares at February 21, 2020

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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Certain portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement, in connection with its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, to be filed within 120 days of December 31, 2019, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS, INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019

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Forward-Looking Statements

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In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “expect,” “should,” “believe” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, including those discussed in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” which may cause our 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:

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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, we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements. For further information about these and other risks and uncertainties as well as strategic initiatives, see Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Item 1. “Business” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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on average twice the population of a U.S. screen in a less populated market. With the exception of the Baltics and Portugal, we operated a combined 14 IMAX^® screens in all of our territories’ capitals.

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The following table provides detail with respect to the geographic location of our theatrical exhibition circuit as of December 31, 2019:

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Our theatrical exhibition revenues are generated primarily from box office admissions and theatre food and beverage sales. We offer consumers a broad range of entertainment alternatives including traditional film programming, independent and foreign films, performing arts, music and sports. We also offer food and beverage alternatives beyond traditional concession items, including made-to-order meals, customized coffee, healthy snacks, beer, wine, premium cocktails, and dine-in theatre options. The balance of our revenues are generated from ancillary sources, including on-screen advertising, fees earned from our customer loyalty program, rental of theatre auditoriums, income from gift card and exchange ticket sales, and online ticketing fees.

Our Strategy

We are committed to maintaining a leadership position in the exhibition industry by focusing on forward-thinking initiatives for the benefit of our guests. We do this through the AMC Platform which is a combination of unique marketing outreach, seamless digital technology and innovative theatre amenities designed to 1) transform AMC into a world class leader in customer engagement, 2) deliver the best in-person experience while at AMC theatres and 3) selectively expand our footprint. Consistent with our history and culture of innovation, we believe our vision and relentless focus on these key elements, which apply strategic and marketing components to traditional theatrical exhibition, will drive our future success.

AMC engages movie-goers through advances in technology and marketing activities to strengthen the bonds with our current guests and create new connections with potential customers that drive both growth and loyalty. AMC serves our guests, end-to-end, from before they enter our theatres, through their enjoyment of a comprehensive spectrum of film content while at our theatres and then again after the movie when they’ve left the theatre and are deciding what film to see the next time they visit.

In our U.S. markets, we begin the process of engagement with AMC Stubs^® our customer loyalty program which allows members to earn rewards, receive discounts and participate in exclusive members-only offerings and services. It features a traditional paid tier called AMC Stubs Premiere™ for a $15 annual membership fee and a non-paid tier called AMC Stubs Insider™. Both programs reward loyal guests for their patronage of AMC theatres. Rewards earned are redeemable on future purchases at AMC locations.

On June 26, 2018, we launched AMC Stubs^® A-List, a new tier of our AMC Stubs^® loyalty program. This program offers guests admission to movies at AMC up to three times per week including multiple movies per day and repeat visits to already seen movies for the monthly price of between $19.95 and $23.95 depending upon geographic market. AMC Stubs^® A-List also includes premium offerings including IMAX^®, Dolby Cinema™ at AMC, RealD, Prime and BigD. AMC Stubs^® A-List members can book tickets online in advance and select specific seats at AMC Theatres with reserved seating.

As of December 31, 2019, we had more than 22,500,000 member households enrolled in AMC Stubs^® A-List, AMC Stubs Premiere™ and AMC Stubs Insider™ programs on a combined basis. Our AMC Stubs^® members represented approximately 45% of AMC U.S. markets attendance during the year ended December 31, 2019, with members generating 2.2x higher revenue than non-members. Our much larger database of identified movie-goers also provides us with additional insight into our customers’ movie preferences. This enables us to have a larger, more personalized and targeted marketing effort.

In our International markets, we currently have loyalty programs in the major territories in which we operate. The movie-goers can earn points for spending money at the theatre, and those points can be redeemed for tickets and concession items at a later date. Odeon currently has more than 4,200,000 active members in these various loyalty programs. We are currently evaluating the Odeon loyalty programs to determine how best to reward our European movie-goers and heighten guest loyalty to drive additional attendance to Odeon theatres.

Our marketing efforts are not limited to our loyalty program as we continue to improve our customer connections through our website and mobile apps and expand our online and movie offerings. In select markets during

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2019, we upgraded our mobile applications with the ability to order food and beverage offerings via our mobile applications while ordering tickets ahead of scheduled showtimes. Also, in 2019, we launched AMC Theatres On Demand, a new service where members of the AMC Stubs^® loyalty program can rent or buy movies. We believe our competitive advantage of a robust and easy-to-use online and mobile presence combined with an effective loyalty program that provides better market intelligence to anticipate customers’ future behavior should allow us to capture incremental share of both entertainment dollars and time.

In conjunction with our advances in technology and marketing initiatives, we plan to continue investing in our theatres and enhancing the consumer experience to deliver the best in-person experience and take greater advantage of incremental revenue-generating opportunities, primarily through comfort and convenience innovations, imaginative food and beverage initiatives, and exciting premium large format (“PLF”) offerings.

Comfort and Convenience Innovations. Recliner seating is the key feature of our theatre renovations. We believe that maximizing comfort and convenience for our customers will be increasingly necessary to maintain and improve our relevance. These renovations, in conjunction with capital contributions from our landlords, involve stripping theatres to their basic structure in order to replace finishes throughout, upgrading the sight and sound experience, installing modernized points of sale and, most importantly, replacing traditional theatre seats with plush, electric recliners that allow customers to deploy a leg rest and fully recline at the push of a button. The quality improvement in the customer experience can drive a 33% increase in attendance, on average, at these locations in their first year post renovation. Upon reopening a remodeled theatre, we typically increase the ticket price to reflect the enhanced consumer experience.

As of December 31, 2019, in our U.S. markets we now feature recliner seating in approximately 342 U.S. theatres, including Dine-in-Theatres, totaling approximately 3,256 screens and representing 40.2% of total U.S. screens, and representing 55% of total U.S. screens currently identified for recliner renovations. In our International markets, we have recliner seating in approximately 71 International theatres, totaling approximately 451 screens and representing 15.3% of total International screens.

Open-source internet ticketing makes AMC’s entire universe of seats in the U.S. (over 1.1 million as of December 31, 2019), for all our show times, as available as possible, on as many websites and mobile applications as possible. Our tickets are currently on sale either directly or through mobile apps, at our own website and our mobile apps and other third-party ticketing vendors. For the year ended December 31, 2019, approximately 51.9% of our tickets were purchased online in the U.S., with approximately 72.3% of total online tickets being purchased through the AMC ticket engine. During calendar 2019, we converted all of our AMC and AMC Dine-In theatres to reserved seating, allowing our customers to choose a specific seat in advance of the movie.

Imaginative Food and Beverage Initiatives. Our deployment initiatives also apply to food and beverage enhancements. We have expanded our menu of enhanced food and beverage products to include meals, healthy snacks, premium beers, wine and mixed drinks, and other gourmet products. We plan to invest across a spectrum of enhanced food and beverage formats, ranging from simple, less capital-intensive food and beverage design improvements to the development of new dine-in theatre options.

Our MacGuffins Bar and Lounges (“MacGuffins”) give us an opportunity to engage our over-21 customers. As of December 31, 2019, we offer alcohol in approximately 342 AMC theatres in the U.S. markets, and 237 theatres in our International markets and continue to explore expansion globally.

Exciting Premium Large Format Offerings. PLF auditoriums generate our highest customer satisfaction scores, and we believe the investment in premium formats increases the value of the movie-going experience for our guests, ultimately leading to additional ticket revenue. To that end we are committed to investing in and expanding our offerings of the best sight and sound experiences through a combination of our partnerships with IMAX^® and Dolby Cinema™ and the further development of our own proprietary PLF offering, AMC Prime.

As of December 31, 2019, AMC was the largest IMAX^® exhibitor in the U.S., with 188 (3D enabled) IMAX^® screens and a 56% market share. Each one of our IMAX^® local installations is protected by

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geographic exclusivity, and as of December 31, 2019, our IMAX^® screen count was 98% greater than our closest competitor. We also operate 35 IMAX® screens in Europe. We expect to continue to expand our IMAX^® relationship across the U.S. and Europe, further strengthening our position as the largest IMAX^® exhibitor in the U.S. and a leading IMAX^® exhibitor in the United Kingdom and Europe.

As of December 31, 2019, we operated 148 Dolby Cinema™ at AMC auditoriums in the U.S. In December 2018, we introduced the first United Kingdom Dolby Cinema Auditorium in our iconic Leicester Square theatre in the heart of London, ending 2019 with 5 Dolby Cinema™ Auditoriums in Europe. We expect to expand the deployment of our innovative Dolby Cinema™ auditoriums in both our U.S. and International markets.

The following table provides detail with respect to digital delivery, 3D enabled projection, large screen formats, such as IMAX^® and our proprietary Dolby Cinema™, other PLF screens, enhanced food and beverage offerings and our premium seating as deployed throughout our circuit on December 31, 2019:

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We intend to grow through the deployment of our strategic growth initiatives, opening new-build theatres and continued exploration of small acquisitions. By expanding our platform through disciplined new-build theatres and acquisitions, we are able to further deploy our proven strategic initiatives while further diversifying our consumer base, leading to greater appeal for more films. The additional scale achieved through new-build theatres and acquisitions also serves to benefit AMC through global procurement savings and increased overhead efficiencies. We believe that expansion offers us additional opportunities to introduce our proven guest-focused strategies to new movie-goers and will generate meaningful benefits to guests, associates, studio partners and our shareholders.

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The following table sets forth our historical information concerning new builds (including expansions), acquisitions and dispositions (including net construction closures) and end-of-period operated theatres and screens through December 31, 2019:

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Rebalancing of the new supply-and-demand relationship created by recliner seating presents us two further opportunities to improve customer convenience and maximize operating results: open-source internet ticketing and reserved seating.

Our Competitive Strengths

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We believe we have the following competitive strengths:

Leading guest engagement through digital marketing and technology platforms. Through our AMC Stubs^® loyalty program, we have developed a consumer database of some 22.5 million households, representing approximately 50 million individuals. Our digital marketing and technology platforms allow us to engage with these customers frequently, efficiently and on a very personalized level. We believe personalized data drives increased engagement, resulting in higher attendance.

Leading Market Share in Important, Affluent and Diverse Markets. Across our three biggest metropolitan markets in the United States—New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, representing 17% of the country’s total box office—we hold a 39% combined market share. As of December 31, 2019, we have theatres located in the top 25 U.S. markets, holding the #1 or #2 position in 18 of those 25 markets based on box office revenue. We are also the #1 theatre operator in Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Spain; the #2 operator in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Portugal; and the #4 operator in Germany. We believe our strong presence in these top markets makes our theatres highly visible and therefore strategically more important to content providers, who rely on the large audiences and marketing momentum provided by major markets to drive opinion-making and deliver a movie’s overall box office results.

We also have a diversified footprint with complementary global geographic and guest demographic profiles. We have theatres in more densely populated major metropolitan markets, where there is also a scarcity of attractive retail real estate opportunities, as well as complementary suburban and rural markets. Guests from different demographic and geographic profiles have different tastes in movies, and we believe by broadening our geographic base, we can help mitigate the impact of film genre volatility on our box office revenues.

Well Located, Highly Productive Theatres. Our theatres are generally located in the top retail centers across the United States. We believe this provides for long-term visibility and higher productivity and is a key element in the success of our enhanced food and beverage and more comfort and convenience initiatives. Our location strategy, combined with our strong major market presence, enable us to deliver industry-leading theatre-level productivity. During the year ended December 31, 2019, nine of the ten highest grossing theatres in the U.S. were AMC theatres, according to data provided by Comscore. During the same period, AMC’s U.S. markets average total revenues per theatre was approximately $6.3 million. This per unit productivity is important not only to content providers, but also to developers and landlords, for whom per location and per square foot sales numbers are critical measures. The net effect is a close relationship with the commercial real estate community, which often gives us first-look and preferred tenant status on emerging opportunities.

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AMC Classic theatres are located primarily in smaller, suburban and rural markets, which affects total revenues per theatre. However, in general, theatres located in smaller suburban and rural markets tend to have less competition and a lower cost structure.

In our International markets, many theatres are located in top retail centers in major metropolitan markets with high visibility. We believe that deploying our proven strategic initiatives in these markets will help drive attendance and greatly improve productivity. Other theatres are in larger and mid-sized cities and towns in affluent regions. We have an ample pipeline of new-build and renovation opportunities already identified, and with some investment in our enhanced food and beverage and premium sight and sound initiatives, we believe there are ample growth opportunities.

Deployment of unique pricing structures to enhance revenue. AMC has developed a dedicated pricing department and, as a result, we have deployed several different strategic pricing structures that have increased revenue and profitability.

In June 2018, we launched AMC Stubs^® A-list, a subscription pricing structure that offers members three movies a week, including premium formats, for a monthly fee ranging from $19.95 to $23.95 depending on geographical location. Around the same time, we launched “Discount Tuesday” which offers AMC Stubs^® members a reduced price for movie attendance on Tuesdays, traditionally a slow part of the week. The results have been an incremental increase in attendance and corresponding increase in admissions and food and beverage revenue.

Sources of Revenue

Film Content. Box office admissions are our largest source of revenue. We predominantly license “first-run” films from distributors owned by major film production companies and from independent distributors on a film-by-film and theatre-by-theatre basis. Film exhibition costs are accrued based on the applicable admissions revenues and estimates of the final settlement pursuant to our film licenses. These licenses typically state that rental fees are based on aggregate terms established prior to the opening of the picture. In certain circumstances and less frequently, our rental fees are based on a mutually agreed settlement upon the conclusion of the picture. In some European territories, rental fees are established on a weekly basis for the coming week’s percentage forecast. Some European licenses use a per capita agreement instead, paying a flat amount per ticket, where the sum is agreed in long-term agreements in advance of the film showing. Under an aggregate terms formula, we usually pay the distributor a specified percentage of box office gross or pay based on a scale of percentages tied to different amounts of box office gross, or in Europe, we pay based on the number of weeks since release. The settlement process allows for negotiation based upon how a film actually performs.

During the 2019 calendar year, films licensed from our six largest distributors based on revenues accounted for approximately 80% of our U.S. admissions revenues, which consisted of Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, and Paramount. In Europe, approximately 80% of our box office revenue came from films attributed to our five largest distributors, which consisted of Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, and Paramount. Our revenues attributable to individual distributors may vary significantly from year to year depending upon the commercial success of each distributor’s films in any given year.

Food and Beverage. Food and beverage sales are our second largest source of revenue after box office admissions. Food and beverage items traditionally include popcorn, soft drinks, candy and hot dogs. Different varieties of food and beverage items are offered at our theatres based on preferences in the particular geographic region. We design our theatres to have more food and beverage capacity to make it easier to serve larger numbers of customers. Strategic placement of large food and beverage operations within theatres increases their visibility, aids in reducing the length of lines, allows flexibility to introduce new concepts and improves traffic flow around the food and beverage stands.

To address recent consumer trends, we have expanded our menu of enhanced food and beverage products to include made-to-order drinks and meals, customized coffee, healthy snacks, premium beers, wine and mixed drinks, and other gourmet products. We plan to continue investment across a spectrum of enhanced food and beverage formats, ranging from simple, less capital-intensive food and beverage design improvements to the development of new dine-in theatre options. The costs of these conversions in some cases are partially covered by investments from the theatre landlord. We currently operate 51 Dine-In Theatres in the U.S. and two Dine-In Theatres in Europe that deliver chef-inspired menus with seat-side or delivery service to luxury recliners with tables. Our recent Dine-In Theatre concepts are designed to capitalize on the latest food service trend, the fast casual eating experience.

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Employees

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As of December 31, 2019, we employed 3,952 full-time and 34,920 part-time employees. We consider our employee relations to be good.

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Theatrical Exhibition Industry and Competition

U.S. markets. In the U.S., the movie exhibition business is large, stable and mature. While in any given calendar quarter the quantity and quality of movies can drive volatile results, box office revenues have generally advanced from 2009 to 2019. The industry’s best year ever, in terms of revenues, was 2018, with box office revenues of approximately $11.9 billion, an increase of approximately 7.1% from 2017 with 1.3 billion admissions in the U.S. and Canada.

We believe it is the quality of the movie-going experience that will define future success. Whether through enhanced food and beverage options (Food and Beverage Kiosks, Marketplaces, Coke Freestyle^®, MacGuffins or Dine-in Theatres), more comfort and convenience (recliner seating, open-source internet ticketing, reserved seating), engagement and loyalty (AMC Stubs^®, mobile apps, social media) or sight and sound (digital projectors, 3D, Dolby Cinema™ at AMC, other PLF screens or IMAX^®), it is the ease of use and the amenities that these innovations bring to customers that we believe will drive sustained profitability in the years ahead.

The following table represents information about the U.S./Canada exhibition industry obtained from the National Association of Theatre Owners (“NATO”):

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Based on information obtained from Comscore, we believe that the three largest exhibitors, in terms of U.S./Canada box office revenue (AMC, Regal Entertainment Group and Cineplex Inc., and Cinemark Holdings, Inc.) generated approximately 60% of the box office revenues in 2019. This statistic is up from 35% in 2000 and is evidence that the theatrical exhibition business in the U.S./Canada has been consolidating.

International markets. Movie-going is a popular leisure activity with high penetration across key geographies in our International markets. Theatre appeal has proven resilient to competition for consumers’ leisure spending and to recessionary periods and we believe we will continue to benefit from increased spending across International markets. The European market lags the U.S. market across a number of factors, including annual spend per customer, number of IMAX^® screens and screens per capita that cause us to believe that the deployment of our customer initiatives will be successful in these markets. On the other hand, our European markets are more densely populated and operate with fewer screens per one million of population, making the screens we acquired more valuable.

Additionally, international markets have become increasingly important. The percentage of total box office revenues attributable to all international markets (including markets in which AMC does not operate) increased from 69% in 2012 to 73% in 2019. U.S. films generate the majority of the box office in Europe, but movie-goers in specific geographies welcome locally produced films with local actors and familiar story lines which can mitigate film genre attendance fluctuations. Going forward, we believe we will see positive growth in theatre attendance as we deploy our proven guest centered innovations like recliner seating, enhanced food and beverage offerings, and premium large format experiences.

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The following table provides information about the exhibition industry attendance for the International markets where we operate obtained from Screen Digest as well as territory industry trade sources:

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Competition. Our theatres are subject to varying degrees of competition in the geographic areas in which they operate. Competition is often intense with respect to attracting patrons, licensing motion pictures and finding new theatre sites. Where real estate is readily available, it is easier to open a theatre near one of our theatres, which may adversely affect operations at our theatre. However, in certain of our densely populated major metropolitan markets, we believe a scarcity of attractive retail real estate opportunities enhances the strategic value of our existing theatres. We also believe the complexity inherent in operating in these major metropolitan markets is a deterrent to other less sophisticated competitors, protecting our market share position.

The theatrical exhibition industry faces competition from other forms of out-of-home entertainment, such as concerts, amusement parks and sporting events, and from other distribution channels for filmed entertainment, such as cable television, pay-per-view, video streaming services, and home video systems, as well as from all other forms of entertainment.

Movie-going is a compelling consumer out-of-home entertainment experience. Movie theatres currently garner a relatively small share of overall consumer entertainment time and spend, leaving significant room for further expansion and growth in the United States and internationally. In addition, our industry benefits from available capacity to satisfy additional consumer demand without capital investment.

Regulatory Environment

The distribution of motion pictures is, in large part, regulated by federal and state antitrust laws and has been the subject of numerous antitrust cases. The consent decrees, resulting from one of those cases to which we were not a party, have a material impact on the industry and us. Those consent decrees bind certain major motion picture distributors and require the motion pictures of such distributors to be offered and licensed to exhibitors, including us, on a film-by-film and theatre-by-theatre basis. Consequently, we cannot assure ourselves of a supply of motion pictures by entering into long-term arrangements with major distributors, but must compete for our licenses on a film-by-film and theatre-by-theatre basis. The U.S. Department of Justice recently moved to terminate the consent decrees, subject to a two-year sunset period for certain portions of the consent decrees including block booking and circuit dealing. At this time, we cannot project what impact, if any, termination of the consent decrees may have on industry licensing practices.

Our theatres in the United States must comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. Compliance with the ADA requires that public accommodations, including websites and mobile apps for such accommodations, be accessible to individuals with disabilities and that new construction or alterations made to conform to accessibility guidelines. Non-compliance with the ADA could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, fines, and awards of damages to private litigants and additional capital expenditures to remedy such noncompliance. As an employer covered by the ADA, we must make reasonable accommodations to the limitations of employees and qualified applicants with disabilities, provided that such reasonable accommodations do not pose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. In addition, many of our employees are covered by various government employment regulations, including minimum wage, overtime and working conditions regulations. In Europe, all territories have similar national regulations relating to disabilities.

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Our operations also are subject to federal, state and local laws regulating such matters as construction, renovation and operation of theatres as well as wages and working conditions, citizenship, health and sanitation requirements, consumer and employee privacy rights, and licensing, including alcoholic beverage sales. We believe our theatres are in material compliance with such requirements.

We own and operate theatres and other properties in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Denmark, and Saudi Arabia, which are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations. Certain of these laws and regulations, including those relating to environmental protection, may impose joint and several liability on certain statutory classes of persons for the costs of investigation or remediation of contamination, regardless of fault or the legality of original disposal. We believe our theatres are in material compliance with such requirements.

Seasonality

Our revenues are dependent upon the timing of motion picture releases by distributors. The most marketable motion pictures are usually released during the summer and the year-end holiday seasons. Therefore, our business is highly seasonal, with higher attendance and revenues generally occurring during the summer months and holiday seasons. Our results of operations may vary significantly from quarter to quarter.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on our website (www.amctheatres.com) under “Investor Relations” / Financial Performance”/ “SEC Filings,” annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy materials on Schedule 14A and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The contents of our Internet website are not incorporated into this report. The Securities and Exchange Commission maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information about the Company.

All our current executive officers hold their offices at the pleasure of our board of directors, subject to rights under their respective employment agreements in some cases. There are no family relationships between or among any executive officers, except that Messrs. John D. McDonald and Mark A. McDonald are brothers.

Mr. Adam Aron has served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of the Company since January 2016. From February 2015 to December 2015, Mr. Aron was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Since 2006, Mr. Aron has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of World Leisure Partners, Inc. a personal consultancy for matters related to travel and tourism, high-end real estate development, and professional sports, that he founded. Mr. Aron served as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Owner of the Philadelphia 76ers from 2011 to 2013, and remains an investor currently. From 2006 to 2015, Mr. Aron served as Senior Operating Partner of Apollo Management L.P. Mr. Aron currently serves on the board of directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd. and HBSE, which owns the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Mr. Aron served on the board of directors of Prestige Cruise Holdings Inc. from 2007 to 2014. Mr. Aron received a Master’s of

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Business Administration degree with distinction from the Harvard Business School and a bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Harvard College.

Mr. Craig R. Ramsey has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AMC since April 2002 and is retiring on February 28, 2020. Mr. Ramsey served as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company from August 7, 2015 until January 4, 2016. Mr. Ramsey served as Secretary of the Company from April 2002 until April 2003. Mr. Ramsey served as Senior Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer from August 1998 until May 2002. Mr. Ramsey served as Vice President, Finance from January 1997 to August 1998, and prior thereto, Mr. Ramsey had served as Director of Information Systems and Director of Financial Reporting since joining AMC in February 1995. Mr. Ramsey has over 30 years of experience in finance in public and private companies. Mr. Ramsey holds a B.S. degree in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Kansas.

Mr. Sean D. Goodman has served as the Executive Vice President, Finance of AMC since December 2, 2019. From July 2017 until November 2019 Mr. Goodman was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (“ABG”). Prior to joining ABG, Mr. Goodman served as the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer from January 2016 to June 2017 of Unifi, Inc. Mr. Goodman also served as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of the Americas region of Landis+Gyr, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, from April 2011 to January 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Goodman served in various roles from February 2006 to April 2011 at The Home Depot, Inc. Mr. Goodman began his career holding various positions in capital markets, accounting, treasury, finance and strategy with Morgan Stanley, Inc. and Deloitte & Touche LLP. Mr. Goodman is a certified public accountant and has a Bachelor of Business Science from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

Mr. John D. McDonald has served as Executive Vice President, U.S. Operations of AMC since July 2009. Prior to July 2009, Mr. McDonald served as Executive Vice President, U.S. and Canada Operations effective October 1998. Mr. McDonald served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations from November 1995 to October 1998. Mr. McDonald is a member of the National Association of Theatre Owners Advisory board of directors, Chairman of the Technology Committee for the National Association of Theatre Owners, and member of the board of directors for Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition, LLC. Mr. McDonald has successfully managed the integration for the Gulf States, General Cinema, Loews, Kerasotes, and Carmike mergers and acquisitions. Mr. McDonald attended California State Polytechnic University where he studied economics and history.

Ms. Elizabeth Frank has served as Executive Vice President, Worldwide Programming and Chief Content Officer for AMC since July 2012. Between August 2010 and July 2012, Ms. Frank served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Strategic Partnerships. From 2006 to 2010, Ms. Frank served as Senior Vice President of Global Programs for AmeriCares. From 2003 to 2006, Ms. Frank served as Vice President of Corporate Strategic Planning for Time Warner Inc. Prior to Time Warner Inc., Ms. Frank was a partner at McKinsey & Company for nine years. Ms. Frank holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Lehigh University and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.

Mr. Mark A. McDonald has served as Executive Vice President, Global Development of AMC since July 2009 and is retiring on February 28, 2020. Prior thereto, Mr. McDonald served as Executive Vice President, International Operations from December 1998 to July 2009. Prior thereto, Mr. McDonald had served as Senior Vice President, Asia Operations since November 1995. Mr. McDonald holds a B.A. degree from the University of Southern California and a M.B.A. from the Anderson School at University of California Los Angeles.

Mr. Stephen A. Colanero has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of AMC since December 2009. Prior to joining AMC, Mr. Colanero served as Vice President of Marketing for RadioShack Corporation from April 2008 to December 2009. Mr. Colanero also served as Senior Vice President of Retail Marketing for Washington Mutual Inc. from February 2006 to August 2007 and as Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing for Blockbuster Inc. from November 1994 to January 2006. Mr. Colanero holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from Villanova University and a M.B.A. in Marketing and Strategic Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Kevin M. Connor has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of AMC since April 2003. Prior to April 2003, Mr. Connor served as Senior Vice President, Legal beginning November 2002. Prior thereto, Mr. Connor was in private practice in Kansas City, Missouri as a partner with the firm Seigfreid Bingham, P.C.

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from October 1995. Mr. Connor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History from Vanderbilt University, a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Kansas School of Law and LLM in Taxation from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Mr. Chris A. Cox has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of AMC since June 2010. Prior thereto Mr. Cox served as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since May 2002. Prior to May 2002, Mr. Cox had served as Vice President and Controller since November 2000. Previously, Mr. Cox had served as Director of Corporate Accounting for the Dial Corporation from December 1999 until November 2000. Mr. Cox holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Iowa.

Ms. Carla C. Chavarria has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer of AMC since January 2019 and Senior Vice President, Human Resources of AMC since January 2014. Ms. Chavarria served as Vice President, Human Resources Services from September 2006 to January 2014. Prior thereto, Ms. Chavarria served as Vice President, Recruitment and Development from April 2005 to September 2006. Ms. Chavarria’s prior experience includes human resources manager and director of employment practices. Ms. Chavarria began her career at AMC in 1988 as a theatre manager in Philadelphia. Ms. Chavarria serves as co-chair for the AMC Cares Invitational and is a member of the AMC Investment Committee. She is formerly a board member for the Quality Hill Playhouse and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City. She currently serves on the boards of the Kansas City Zoo, Negro League Baseball Museum and is the chair of Win Win. Ms. Chavarria has over 20 years of human resources experience. Ms. Chavarria holds a B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University.

Mr. Daniel Ellis has served as the Senior Vice President, Domestic Development since December 21, 2016. From August 2011 until December 2016, Mr. Ellis was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Carmike Cinemas, Inc. From 1999 until 2011, Mr. Ellis served in several roles with Lodgian, Inc., including as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors from 2009 through 2010 and Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary from 2002 through 2009. Prior to joining Lodgian, Mr. Ellis served as an Assistant District Attorney for the State of Georgia.

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Competition among theatre exhibition companies is often intense with respect to attracting patrons, terms for licensing of motion pictures and availability and securing and maintaining desirable locations.

We also compete with other film delivery methods, including video streaming, network, syndicated cable and satellite television, as well as video-on-demand, pay-per-view services. We also compete for the public’s leisure time and disposable income with other forms of entertainment, including sporting events, amusement parks, live music concerts, live theatre, and restaurants. An increase in the popularity of these alternative film delivery methods and other forms of entertainment could reduce attendance at our theatres, limit the prices we can charge for admission and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We rely on distributors of motion pictures, over whom we have no control, for the films that we exhibit, and our business may be adversely affected if our access to motion pictures is limited or delayed.

Major motion picture distributors are required by law to offer and license film to exhibitors, including us, on a film-by-film and theatre-by-theatre basis. Consequently, we cannot assure ourselves of a supply of motion pictures by entering into long-term arrangements with major distributors, but must compete for our licenses on a film-by-film and theatre-by-theatre basis. Moreover, in the event of changes to applicable law, including the potential termination of the consent decrees (see the Regulatory Environment section), these practices may change ways that cannot be predicted. Our business depends on maintaining good relations with these distributors, as this affects our ability to negotiate commercially favorable licensing terms for first-run films or to obtain licenses at all. With only six distributors representing approximately 80% of our U.S. and International markets’ box office revenues in 2019, there is a high level of concentration and continued consolidation in the industry. Our business may be adversely affected if our access to motion pictures is limited or delayed because of deterioration in our relationships with one or more distributors or for some other reason. To the extent that we are unable to license a popular film for exhibition in our theatres, our operating results may be adversely affected.

Our substantial debt could adversely affect our operations and prevent us from satisfying those debt obligations.

We have a significant amount of debt. As of December 31, 2019, we had outstanding approximately $4,853.3 million of indebtedness ($5,010.7 million face amount), which consisted of $1,961.4 million under our Senior Secured Credit Facility ($1,985.0 million face amount), $515.6 million of our existing Convertible Notes due 2024 ($600.0 million face amount), $2,276.4 million of our existing subordinated notes ($2,325.8 million face amount), and $99.9 million of existing finance lease obligations. As of December 31, 2019, we had $215.0 million available for borrowing, net of letters of credit, under our Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility and £89.2 million ($117.0 million) available for borrowing (subject to limitations on the incurrence of indebtedness in our various debt instruments) under our Odeon Revolving Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2019, we also had approximately $5.5 billion of discounted rental payments under operating leases (with initial base terms generally between 12 to 15 years). The amount of our indebtedness and lease and other financial obligations could have important consequences to our stockholders. For example, it could:

If we fail to make any required payment under our Senior Secured Credit Facility or the indentures governing our notes or to comply with any of the financial and operating covenants contained therein, we would be in default. Lenders under our Senior Secured Credit Facility or holders of our notes, as applicable, could then decide to accelerate the maturity of the indebtedness under the Senior Secured Credit Facility or the indentures and in the case of the Senior Credit Facility, foreclose upon the stock and personal property of our subsidiaries that is pledged to secure the Senior

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Secured Credit Facility. Other creditors might then accelerate other indebtedness. If the lenders under the Senior Secured Credit Facility or holders of our notes accelerate the maturity of the indebtedness thereunder, we might not have sufficient assets to satisfy our obligations under the Senior Secured Credit Facility, the indentures, or our other indebtedness. Our indebtedness under our Senior Secured Credit Facility bears interest at rates that fluctuate with changes in certain prevailing interest rates (although, subject to certain conditions, such rates may be fixed for certain periods). If interest rates increase, we may be unable to meet our debt service obligations under our Senior Secured Credit Facility and other indebtedness.

We may not generate sufficient cash flows or have sufficient restricted payment capacity under our Senior Secured Credit Facility or the indentures governing our debt securities to pay our intended dividends on our Class A common stock and will suffer contractual penalties related to the Convertible Notes due 2024 if we do not reduce per-share dividend amounts paid on our Class A common stock during 2020.

Subject to legally available funds, we intend to pay quarterly cash dividends. We will only be able to pay dividends from our available cash on hand and funds received from our subsidiaries. Our subsidiaries' ability to make distributions to us will depend on their ability to generate substantial operating cash flow. Our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders is subject to the terms of our Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing our outstanding notes. Our operating cash flow and ability to comply with restricted payment covenants in our debt instruments will depend on our future performance, which will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors beyond our control. In addition, dividend payments are not mandatory or guaranteed, and our board of directors may decrease the level of dividends or entirely discontinue the payment of dividends. We may not pay dividends as a result of the following additional factors, among others:

The maximum amount we would be permitted to distribute in accordance with our Senior Secured Credit Facility and the indentures governing our notes was approximately $2.7 billion as of December 31, 2019. As a result of the foregoing limitations on our ability to make distributions, we cannot give assurance that we will be able to make all of our intended quarterly dividend payments. Moreover, we will suffer contractual penalties under the terms of the Convertible Notes due 2024 in the form of an adjustment to the conversion rate if dividends are not reduced to not greater than $0.10 per share after September 14, 2020.

The agreements governing our indebtedness contain covenants that may limit our ability to take advantage of certain business opportunities advantageous to us.

The agreements governing our indebtedness contain various covenants that limit our ability to, among other things:

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These restrictions could limit our ability to obtain future financing, make acquisitions, fund needed capital expenditures, withstand economic downturns in our business or the economy in general, conduct operations or otherwise take advantage of business opportunities that may arise. At the same time, the covenants in the instruments governing our indebtedness may not provide investors with protections against transactions they may deem undesirable.

If our cash flows prove inadequate to service our debt and provide for our other obligations, we may be required to refinance all or a portion of our existing debt or future debt at terms unfavorable to us.

Our ability to make payments on and refinance our debt and other financial obligations and to fund our capital expenditures and acquisitions will depend on our ability to generate substantial operating cash flow. This will depend on our future performance, which will be subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors beyond our control.

In addition, our debt obligations require us to repay or refinance our obligations when they come due. If our cash flows were to prove inadequate to meet our debt service, rental and other obligations in the future, we may be required to refinance all or a portion of our existing or future debt, on or before maturity, to sell assets or to obtain additional financing. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness, including our Senior Secured Credit Facility and our notes, sell any such assets, or obtain additional financing on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

The terms of the agreements governing our indebtedness restrict, but do not prohibit us from incurring additional indebtedness. If we are in compliance with the financial covenants set forth in the Senior Secured Credit Facility and our other outstanding debt instruments, we may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness. If we incur additional indebtedness, the related risks that we face may intensify.

Limitations on the availability of capital and reductions to capital expenditures may delay or prevent deployment of strategic initiatives.

Implementation of our key strategic initiatives, including recliner seating, enhanced food and beverage and premium sight and sound, require significant capital expenditures. Our gross capital expenditures were approximately $518.1 million, $576.3 million, and $628.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, December 31, 2018 and, December 31, 2017, respectively. We estimate that our cash outflows for capital expenditures, net of landlord contributions, will be approximately $275.0 million to $300.0 million for the year ending December 31, 2020. The lack of available capital resources due to business performance or other financial commitments could prevent or delay the deployment of innovations in our theatres. We may reduce capital expenditures significantly or seek additional financing or issue additional securities, which may affect the timing and scope of growth strategy. We cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain new financing on favorable terms, or at all. In addition, covenants under our existing indebtedness limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, and the performance of any additional or improved theatres may not be sufficient to service the related indebtedness that we are permitted to incur.

Our results of operations may be impacted by shrinking theatrical exclusive release windows.

Over the last decade, the average theatrical exclusive release window, which represents the time that elapses from the date of a film’s theatrical release to the date a film is available to consumers in-home, has decreased from approximately six months to approximately three to four months. If distributors choose to further decrease or eliminate the theatrical exclusive release window or patrons choose to wait for in-home viewing options rather than attend a theatre for viewing the film, it may adversely impact our business and results of operations, financial condition and cash

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flows. We cannot give assurance that this release window, which is determined by the film studios, will not shrink further or be eliminated altogether, which could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

We may incur future impairment charges to goodwill or long-lived assets and future theatre and other closure charges.

We have a significant amount of goodwill on our balance sheet as a result of acquisitions. As of December 31, 2019, goodwill recorded on our consolidated balance sheet totaled $4,789.1 million. Based on sustained declines in our market capitalization during 2019, we performed quantitative goodwill impairment tests as of September 30, 2019 and additional qualitative tests as of December 31, 2019. Considering the results of these tests, management judgment with respect to cash flow estimates and appropriate multiples and discount rates to be used in estimating fair value, and application of a market participant acquisition premium, we determined that the goodwill recorded on our consolidated balance sheet was not impaired. In addition, following our adoption of ASC 842, certain data providers in the analyst community have characterized our operating lease liabilities as indebtedness, which has the impact of increasing our leverage as reported by these data providers and, we believe, has and may continue to negatively affect our share price and market capitalization. If the market price of our common stock sustains its current levels for an extended period or further declines, if the fair value of our debt declines, or if other events or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of our reporting units below their respective carrying value, all or a portion of our goodwill may be impaired in future periods.

We review long-lived assets, including goodwill, indefinite-lived intangible assets and other intangible assets and theatre assets (including operating lease right-of-use lease assets) whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable. The review for goodwill compares the fair value for each of our reporting units to their associated carrying value. Factors that could lead to impairment of goodwill and intangible assets include adverse industry or economic trends, reduced estimates of future cash flows, and declines in the market price of our common stock or declines in the fair value of our debt. Our valuation methodology for assessing impairment requires management to make judgments and assumptions based on historical experience and projections of future operating performance, including assessing our corporate borrowings and finance lease obligations estimates of fair value. We may be required to record future charges to earnings during the period in which an impairment of goodwill or intangible assets is determined to exist. During the years ended December 31, 2019, December 31, 2018, and December 31, 2017, we recorded impairment of long-lived asset charges of $84.3 million (including $60.0 million related to the write-down of operating lease right-of-use assets, which were recorded in connection with the adoption of ASC 842-Leases), $13.8 million, and $43.6 million, respectively. The assets impaired during year 2019 included 40 theatres in the U.S. markets with 512 screens (in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming), 14 theatres in the International markets with 148 screens (in Germany, Italy, Spain, and United Kingdom) and a U.S. property held and not used. In addition, we recorded an impairment loss of $3.6 million recorded to investment expense (income) related to an equity interest investment during 2019.

Our business is subject to international economic, political and other risks that could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

As a result of our international operations, 26.5% of our revenues were derived from countries outside the United States for the year ended December 31, 2019. The success of our international operations is dependent upon our ability to operate a business in markets where we have limited experience and is subject to risks that are beyond our control. Accordingly, our business is subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including:

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If we are unable to manage the complexity of our global operations successfully, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The decision by British voters to exit the European Union may negatively impact our operations.

Effective as of January 31, 2020, the U.K. exited from the European Union (“Brexit”). While the U.K. has agreed to the terms of its exit from the European Union, both sides are deciding the future terms of their relationship through an implementation period that concludes on December 31, 2020. The final outcome of these negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union, could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results. The long-term effects of Brexit will depend on the terms negotiated during the implementation period and may include, among other things, greater restrictions on imports and exports between the U.K. and European Union countries, a fluctuation in currency exchange rates and additional regulatory complexity. Additional currency volatility could drive a weaker British pound, which increases the cost of goods imported into our U.K. operations and may decrease the profitability of our U.K. operations. A weaker British pound versus the U.S. dollar also causes local currency results of our U.K.

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operations to be translated into fewer U.S. dollars during a reporting period and currency volatility makes this translation less predictable. Our operations in the U.K. and Europe, as well as our United States operations, could be impacted by the global economic uncertainty caused by Brexit or the actual withdrawal by the U.K. from the European Union. If we are unable to manage any of these risks effectively, our business could be adversely affected. With a range of outcomes still possible, the impact from Brexit remains uncertain and will depend, in part, on the final outcome of tariff, trade, regulatory and other negotiations.

Optimizing our theatre circuit through new construction and the transformation of our existing theatres may be subject to delay and unanticipated costs.

The availability of attractive site locations for new construction is subject to various factors that are beyond our control. These factors include:

We typically require 18 to 24 months in the United States from the time we reach an agreement with a landlord to when a theatre opens. This timeframe may vary as we introduce this concept in international markets.

In addition, the improvement of our existing theatres through our enhanced food and beverage and recliner seating and premium sight and sound initiatives is subject to substantial risks, such as difficulty in obtaining permits, landlord approvals and operating licenses (e.g. liquor licenses). We may also experience cost overruns from delays or other unanticipated costs in both new construction and facility improvements. Furthermore, our new sites and transformed locations may not perform to our expectations.

We rely on our information systems to conduct our business, and any failure to protect these systems against security breaches or failure of these systems themselves could adversely affect our business, results of operations and liquidity and could result in litigation and penalties. Additionally, if these systems fail or become unavailable for any significant period of time, our business could be harmed.

The efficient operation of our business is dependent on computer hardware and software systems. Among other things, these systems collect and store certain personal information from customers, vendors and employees and process customer payment information. Additionally, open-source internet ticketing allows tickets for all of our theatres to be sold by various third-party vendors on websites using information systems we do not control. Our information systems and those maintained by our third-party vendors and the sensitive data they are designed to protect are vulnerable to security breaches by computer hackers, cyber terrorists and other cyber attackers. We rely on industry-accepted security measures and technology to securely maintain confidential and proprietary information maintained on our information systems, and we rely on our third-party vendors to take appropriate measures to protect the confidentiality of the information on those information systems. However, these measures and technology may not adequately prevent security breaches. Our information systems may become unavailable or fail to perform as anticipated for any reason, including viruses, loss of power or human error. Any significant interruption or failure of our information systems or those maintained by our third-party vendors or any significant breach of security could adversely affect our reputation with our customers, vendors and employees and could adversely affect our business, results of operations and liquidity and could result in litigation against us or the imposition of penalties. A significant interruption, failure or breach of the security of our information systems or those of our third-party vendors could also require us to expend significant resources to upgrade the security measures and technology that guard sensitive data against computer hackers, cyber terrorists and other cyber attackers. We maintain cyber risk insurance coverage to protect against such risks, however, there can be no assurance that such coverage will be adequate.

We may be limited in our ability to utilize, or may not be able to utilize, interest deduction carryforwards or net operating loss carryforwards to reduce our future tax liability.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act legislation (the “2017 Tax Act”) included a number of significant tax provisions including (1) limiting interest deductions for years 2018 through 2021 to 30% of taxable EBITDA, (2) limiting interest deductions for 2022 and thereafter to 30% of taxable EBIT, (3) limiting the utilization of net operating losses generated in calendar year 2018 and thereafter to 80% of taxable income, and (4) providing an indefinite carryover period for interest expense carryforwards and net operating losses generated in calendar year 2018 and thereafter.

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Our current capital structure makes it highly likely we will have significant limitations on our currently deductible interest expense. There can be no assurance, however, that we will generate sufficient taxable income in the carryforward period to utilize any net operating loss carryforwards before they expire, but due to the limitations on deductible interest expense it appears likely we will be able to utilize a majority of our pre-calendar year 2018 net operating loss carryforwards before they expire. However, because any interest carryover amounts retain their character as interest, in future years we may not be able to realize the benefit of any accumulated interest carryforwards.

Although we have experienced numerous “ownership changes” within the meaning of Section 382(g) of the IRC, including our merger with Wanda in August 2012, the only remaining applicable restrictions are related to net operating losses acquired in the Carmike acquisition of approximately $22.4 million with annual limitation of $1.7 million. The remaining net operating losses of $358.5 million are not subject to any limitation.

We are subject to complex taxation, changes in tax rates, adoption of new United States, European Union or international tax legislation and disagreements with tax authorities that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to many different forms of taxation in both the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions where we operate. Current economic and political conditions, including Brexit and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (“OECD”) proposed recommendations around taxation in the Digital Economy, make tax rates, transfer pricing compliance and tax regulations, including in the U.S., U.K, and European Union subject to significant change. Recent examples include the Court of Justice of the European Union narrowing the EU Interest & Royalty withholding directive, OECD recommendations on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”), the European Commission’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Package and the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December 2017.

The cost of compliance with these laws and regulations are high and are likely to increase in the future. Any failure on our part to comply with these laws and regulations can result in negative publicity and diversion of management time and effort and may subject us to significant liabilities and other penalties.

The value of our deferred tax assets may not be realizable to the extent our future profits are less than we have projected and we may be required to record valuation allowances against previously-recorded deferred tax assets, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition.

Our income tax expense includes deferred income taxes arising from changes in temporary differences between the financial reporting and the tax bases of assets and liabilities, credit carryforwards, interest expense carryforwards and net operating losses. We evaluate the realizability of our deferred income tax assets and assess the need for a valuation allowance jurisdiction by jurisdiction on an ongoing basis. In evaluating our deferred income tax assets, we consider whether it is more likely than not that the deferred income tax asset will be realized. The ultimate realization of our deferred income tax assets depends upon generating sufficient future taxable income during the periods in which our temporary differences become deductible and before our tax credit and net operating loss carryforwards expire. Our assessment of the realizability of our deferred income tax assets requires significant judgement. If we fail to achieve our projections or if we need to lower our projections, we may not have sufficient evidence of our ability to realize our deferred tax assets and we may need to increase our valuation allowance.

Our U.S. cumulative pretax losses have raised uncertainty about the likelihood of realizing our deferred tax assets, and as a result we recorded a valuation allowance against all of the U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities, except those deemed indefinite-lived for the year ended December 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2019, our domestic cumulative pre-tax losses continue to raise uncertainty about the likelihood of realizing our deferred tax assets. For our U.S. jurisdiction, we recorded an increase in valuation allowance of $49.7 million and total tax expense of $11.9 million for 2019.

An international valuation allowance previously established against deferred tax assets in Spain was released in the fourth quarter of 2019 resulting in a $41.5 million benefit to income tax expense. Cumulative statutory pretax profits over multiple years along with a sustained trend line of increasing profitability provided sufficient evidence that it was more likely than not the deferred assets would be realized.

There are no assurances that we will not increase or decrease the valuation allowances in future periods against deferred tax expense; likewise, any decrease would result in additional deferred tax benefit. Any deferred tax expense could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

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The accounting methods for our convertible debt securities may have a material effect on our reported financial results.

In accounting for Convertible Notes due 2024, we identified certain features that are bifurcated and accounted for as derivatives. Under the applicable accounting guidance, the derivatives must be marked to market each reporting period. The fluctuation in the fair value between reporting periods is recorded in that period and impacts net earnings. These changes in the fair value will create volatility in our net earnings. Additionally, we recorded a debt discount based on the fair value of the derivative liability related to the conversion feature upon issuance, which will be accreted to interest expense over the term of the agreement. This will impact non-cash interest expense in the current period presented and future periods. Certain of these features will be determined in the third quarter of 2020 which may have a further impact upon diluted earnings per share based on applicable adjustments to the conversion rate under the Convertible Notes due 2024.

In addition, convertible debt instruments (such as the Convertible Notes due 2024) that may be settled in cash, shares or a combination of cash and shares may utilize the if-converted method which we have elected to use to compute earnings per share, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of the notes are included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share to the extent that they are dilutive. Under the if-converted method the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle all of the Convertible Notes due 2024 are included in diluted earnings per share. This may cause further volatility in our diluted earnings per share.

The elimination of the calculation of USD LIBOR rates may impact our contracts that are indexed to USD LIBOR.

In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (the authority that regulates LIBOR) announced it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. The Alternative Reference Rates Committee ("ARRC") has proposed that the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") is the rate that represents best practice as the alternative to USD-LIBOR for use in derivatives and other financial contracts that are currently indexed to USD-LIBOR. ARRC has proposed a paced market transition plan to SOFR from USD-LIBOR and organizations are currently working on industry wide and company specific transition plans as it relates to derivatives and cash markets exposed to USD-LIBOR. We have material contracts that are indexed to USD-LIBOR and we are monitoring this activity and evaluating the related risks.

We may be reviewed by antitrust authorities.

Given our size and market share, pursuit of acquisition opportunities that would increase the number of our theatres in markets where we have a leading market share would likely result in significant review by antitrust regulators in the applicable jurisdictions, and we may be required to dispose of theatres in order to complete such acquisition opportunities. As a result, we may not be able to succeed in acquiring other exhibition companies or we may have to dispose of a significant number of theatres in key markets in order to complete such acquisitions.

We operate in a consolidating industry that is scrutinized from time to time for compliance with antitrust and competition laws, including currently dormant investigations into film clearances and joint ventures among competing exhibitors. If we were found to have violated antitrust laws, it could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition.

We are subject to substantial government regulation, which could entail significant cost.

We are subject to various federal, state and local laws, regulations and administrative practices both domestically and internationally affecting our business, and we must comply with provisions regulating antitrust, health and sanitation standards, equal employment, environmental, licensing for the sale of food and, in some theatres, alcoholic beverages, and data protection and privacy laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and other pending future domestic privacy laws and regulations. Our new theatre openings could be delayed or prevented or our existing theatres could be impacted by difficulties or failures in our ability to obtain or maintain required approvals or licenses. Changes in existing laws or implementation of new laws, regulations and practices could have a significant impact on our business. A significant portion of our theatre level employees are part time workers who are paid at or near the applicable minimum wage in the theatre’s jurisdiction. Increases in the minimum wage and implementation of reforms requiring the provision of additional benefits will increase our labor costs.

We own and operate facilities throughout the United States and various international markets throughout Europe and are subject to the environmental laws and regulations of those jurisdictions, particularly laws governing the

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cleanup of hazardous materials and the management of properties. We might in the future be required to participate in the cleanup of a property that we own or lease, or at which we have been alleged to have disposed of hazardous materials from one of our facilities. In certain circumstances, we might be solely responsible for any such liability under environmental laws, and such claims could be material.

In the U.S., our theatres must comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”). Compliance with the ADA requires that public accommodations, including websites and mobile apps for such public accommodations, “reasonably accommodate” individuals with disabilities and that new construction or alterations made to “commercial facilities” conform to accessibility guidelines unless “structurally impracticable” for new construction or technically infeasible for alterations. Non-compliance with the ADA could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, fines, and an award of damages to private litigants or additional capital expenditures to remedy such noncompliance, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition. In Europe, all territories have similar national regulations relating to disabilities that our theatres operate in accordance with. Noncompliance with these regulations could carry financial, operational and reputation risks.

General political, social and economic conditions can reduce our attendance.

Our success depends on general political, social, and economic conditions and the willingness of consumers to spend money at movie theatres. If going to motion pictures becomes less popular or consumers spend less on food and beverage, our operations could be adversely affected. In addition, our operations could be adversely affected if consumers’ discretionary income falls as a result of an economic downturn. Geopolitical events, including the threat of terrorism or cyber-attacks, or widespread health emergencies, such as the novel coronavirus or other pandemics or epidemics, could cause people to avoid our theatres or other public places where large crowds are in attendance. In addition, due to our concentration in certain markets, natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes in those markets could adversely affect our overall results of operations.

We depend on key personnel for our current and future performance.

Our current and future performance depends to a significant degree upon the retention of our senior management team and other key personnel. The loss or unavailability of any member of our senior management team or a key employee could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We cannot give assurance that we would be able to locate or employ qualified replacements for senior management or key employees on acceptable terms.

Our controlling shareholder owns more than 74% of the combined voting power of our common stock and has significant influence over our corporate management and affairs.

Our Class B common stock has three votes per share, and our Class A common stock (the publicly traded stock) has one vote per share. As of December 31, 2019, Wanda owns 51,769,784 shares of Class B common stock, or 49.85% of our outstanding common stock, representing approximately 74.89% of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. As such, Wanda has significant influence over our reporting and corporate management and affairs, and, because of the three-to-one voting ratio between our Class B and Class A common stock, Wanda will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval (including election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as mergers) so long as the shares of Class B common stock owned by Wanda and its permitted transferees represent at least 30% of all outstanding shares of our Class A and Class B common stock. The shares of our Class B common stock automatically convert to shares of Class A common stock upon Wanda and its permitted transferees holding less than 30% of all outstanding shares of our Class A and Class B common stock.

There may be future dilution of our Class A common stock, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of our Class A common stock.

In the future, we may issue additional shares of Class A common stock to raise cash to refinance indebtedness, for working capital, to finance strategic initiatives and future acquisitions or for other purposes. We may also acquire interests in other companies by using a combination of cash and shares of Class A common stock or just shares of Class A common stock. We may also issue securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, shares of Class A common stock. Any of these events may dilute the ownership interests of current stockholders, reduce our earnings per share or have an adverse effect on the price of our shares of Class A common stock. In addition, the conversion of some or all of our Convertible Notes due 2024, to the extent we deliver shares of

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Class A common stock upon conversion thereof, would dilute the ownership interests of current stockholders, reduce our earnings per share and potentially have an adverse effect on the price of our shares of Class A common stock. As of December 31, 2019, the $600.0 million principal balance of our Convertible Notes due 2024 would be convertible into 31,662,269 shares of Class A common stock.

Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

We cannot predict the effect, if any, that market sales of shares of our Class A common stock or the availability of shares of our Class A common stock for sale will have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales may occur, could reduce the market price of our shares of Class A common stock.

Wanda holds shares of our Class B common stock, all of which constitute "restricted securities" under the Securities Act. The shares of our Class B common stock automatically convert to Class A common stock (1) if transferred to a person other than certain permitted transferees or (2) upon Wanda and its permitted transferees holding less than 30% of all outstanding shares of our Class A and Class B common stock. Provided the holders comply with the applicable volume limits and other conditions prescribed in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, all of these restricted securities are currently freely tradeable. Pursuant to a registration rights agreement dated December 23, 2013, we have agreed to use our best efforts to effect registered offerings upon request from Wanda and to grant incidental or "piggyback" registration rights with respect to any registrable securities held by Wanda. The obligation to effect any demand for registration by Wanda will be subject to certain conditions, including limitations on the number of demand registrations and limitations on the minimum value of securities to be registered. We have also agreed to use our best efforts to grant certain incidental or "piggyback" registration rights with respect to securities issued to certain current and former officers. In connection with the sale of our Convertible Notes due 2024, we have agreed, subject to certain conditions, to use our reasonable efforts to effect registered offerings on behalf of holders of the Convertible Notes due 2024 with respect to the securities held by them and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion thereof. We filed a registration statement with the SEC on December 14, 2018 to fulfill this requirement. The exercise of such registration rights by Wanda, the holders of the Convertible Notes due 2024 and/or the current and former officers may substantially increase the number of shares of Class A common stock in the public market and could reduce the market price of shares of our Class A common stock.

The super voting rights of our Class B common stock and other anti-takeover protections in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may discourage or prevent a takeover of our Company, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders.

Provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as amended, as well as provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law and the supermajority rights of our Class B common stockholder, could delay or make it more difficult to remove incumbent directors or for a third-party to acquire us, even if a takeover would benefit our stockholders. These provisions include:

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Our issuance of shares of preferred stock could delay or prevent a change of control of our company. Our board of directors has the authority to cause us to issue, without any further vote or action by the stockholders, up to 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, in one or more series, to designate the number of shares constituting any series, and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, voting rights, rights and terms of redemption, redemption price or prices and liquidation preferences of such series. The issuance of shares of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company without further action by the stockholders, even where stockholders are offered a premium for their shares.

Our incorporation under Delaware law, the ability of our board of directors to create and issue a new series of preferred stock or a stockholder rights plan and certain other provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as amended, could impede a merger, takeover or other business combination involving our company or the replacement of our management or discourage a potential investor from making a tender offer for our Class A common stock, which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market value of our Class A common stock.

Our issuance of preferred stock could dilute the voting power of the common stockholders and adversely affect the market value of our Class A common stock.

The issuance of shares of preferred stock with voting rights may adversely affect the voting power of the holders of our other classes of voting stock either by diluting the voting power of our other classes of voting stock if they vote together as a single class, or by giving the holders of any such preferred stock the right to block an action on which they have a separate class vote even if the action were approved by the holders of our other classes of voting stock.

In addition, the issuance of shares of preferred stock with dividend or conversion rights, liquidation preferences or other economic terms favorable to the holders of preferred stock could adversely affect the market price for our Class A common stock by making an investment in the common stock less attractive. For example, investors may not wish to purchase Class A common stock at a price above the conversion price of a series of convertible preferred stock because the holders of the preferred stock would effectively be entitled to purchase Class A common stock at the lower conversion price causing economic dilution to the holders of Class A common stock.

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The following stock performance graph compares, for the period December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2019, the cumulative total stockholder returns for AMC’s common stock, the Standard & Poor’s Corporation Composite 500 Index and a self-determined peer group consisting of Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (CNK) and IMAX Corporation (IMAX) (“2018-2019 Peer Group”). Prior to 2018, this peer group consisted of CNK and Regal Entertainment Group (“Regal”) (“2014-2017 Peer Group”). Regal was acquired in 2018 and is no longer a publicly traded company. With the loss of Regal as a publicly traded company in our peer group, we determined to add IMAX to our peer group in 2018. Measurement points are the last trading day for each month ended December 31, 2014 through December 31, 2019. The graph assumes that $100.00 was invested on December 31, 2014 in our common stock and in our peer group and in the Standard & Poor’s Corporation Composite 500 Index and assumes reinvestment of any dividends.

The stock price performance below is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

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Among AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., the S&P 500 Index, and a 2014-2017 Peer Group and 2018-2019 Peer Group

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*$100 invested on December 31, 2014 in stock or in index, including reinvestment of dividends.

Fiscal year ended December 31.

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