Swedish law firm Lindahl, together with international law firm Pinsent Masons, have advised NYSE-listed AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. on its acquisition of Scandinavian and Baltic cinema operator Nordic Cinema Group (NCG), for approximately US$900 million from Bridgepoint Capital and the Swedish media group Bonnier Holdings.
NCG operates 68 theatres and has a substantial minority interest in another 50 associated theatres to which NCG provides a variety of shared services. NCG’s theatres are number one of market share in Sweden (SF Bio), Finland (Finnkino), Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Forum Cinemas) and number two by the same metric in Norway (SF Kino). The combination of AMC and NCG will further strengthen AMC's current position of being the largest cinema operator in the United States, the largest cinema operator in Europe and the largest cinema operator in the world.
Lindahl, whose team was led by Anders Moberg, provided local legal counsel, antitrust advice and coordinated the diligence efforts in seven jurisdictions with the assistance of Advokatfirmaet Schjødt (Norway), Castrén & Snellman (Finland) and Sorainen (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). A large team from Lindahl participated in the transaction, including Carl Axel Morvay and Erik Sundgren (corporate and banking), Mikael Stabo and Yousef Chakir (real estate), Ulrica Salomon (antitrust) and David Frydlinger and Philip Tonkin (strategic contracts).
AMC CEO and President Adam Aron:
“For the third time in the past twelve months, we believe we have discovered a substantial acquisition that gives AMC yet another opportunity to further expand and diversify our geographic reach and more firmly establish AMC as the undisputed leader in movie exhibition worldwide.”
Anders Moberg, partner at Lindahl lawfirm:
“We are really thrilled about having had the chance to participate in AMC’s global expansion through the acquisition of one of the most well-known Swedish pastime institutions – the SF cinemas. Thanks to the great people at Pinsent Masons, mainly Tom Leman, John Tyerman, James Kaye and Ben Elliott, and our colleagues in the various jurisdictions in which Nordic Cinema Group conducts business, we were able to provide AMC with truly seamless and effective advice.”