Back

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.

Case Details

Date Filed: February 20, 2023
Case Number: C.A. No. 2023-0215
Jurisdiction: Delaware Court of Chancery
icon-casetype Case Type: Shareholder Class Action

Case Summary

On February 20, 2023, Saxena White and its co-counsel filed class action complaints alleging that AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (“AMC” or the “Company”) set in motion a plan to improperly override the voting rights of its common stockholders that would result in significant economic harm to the value of the Company’s common stock.  Plaintiffs sought injunctive relief in the Delaware Court of Chancery on behalf of a class of holders of AMC common stock to prevent the Company from amending its Certificate of Incorporation to effectuate this change to its capital structure.

As alleged in the complaint, AMC’s operations were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the wake of a severe drop in revenue, numerous hedge funds took short positions in AMC’s stock.  In response, retail investors (calling themselves “Reddit Apes”) rallied around the Company and took positions in its stock in an effort to defeat the short sellers, lifting AMC’s share price.  With the increase in its stock price, AMC sold nearly all of its remaining authorized common stock to raise capital.  But when AMC announced, on two separate occasions in 2021, proposals to issue new common stock, these proposals were met with massive resistance by its shareholder base.

Determined to issue more shares, in 2022 the Company devised a clever workaround: AMC issued a new class of equity—AMC Preferred Equity Units, or APEs—as a special dividend to its common shareholders and sold additional APEs through an at-the-market program.  Before issuing the APEs, the Company entered into a deposit agreement with the depositary for the preferred shares, pursuant to which it would vote preferred stock as instructed by the holders of then-issued APEs.  Where investors did not provide voting instructions for their APEs, however, the depositary would vote these uninstructed APEs on a “mirrored” basis in the same proportion as the APEs for which the depositary received voting instructions.  The complaints alleged that, in an election in which the APEs and common stock would vote together, this arrangement essentially rigged the vote to favor the interests of the APE holders, at the expense of the common shareholder and their voting rights.

Though APEs were designed to be functionally equivalent to AMC common shares, they traded at a deep discount to the common stock.  To obtain authorization to increase AMC’s authorized common shares, the Company was determined to combine both securities into one class of common shares, and to do that, AMC entered into transactions with hedge fund Antara Capital LP.  On December 22, 2022, AMC disclosed a transaction with Antara that would result in the hedge fund owning almost 30% of the issued APEs, as well as an agreement that Antara would vote for the proposals to allow the conversion of the APEs into common shares.  At the same time, AMC announced a special meeting of stockholders, scheduled for March 14, 2023, to vote on proposals that would result in the conversion of all APEs to common stock via amendments to the Company’s Certificate.  With more APEs than common shares, and the APEs having proportional voting, the complaints alleged that this undermined the common shares’ voting rights.  The complaints further alleged that the conversion would cause the value of the two equities to converge, with APE holders reaping a financial windfall and common shareholders suffering economic harm and dilution.

On February 27, 2023, the Court entered a status quo order allowing AMC to hold the special meeting but prohibiting AMC from filing the amendments pending a ruling by the Court on Plaintiffs’ to-be-filed preliminary injunction motion.  The Court set a preliminary injunction hearing for April 27, 2023.  On March 14, 2023, the special meeting took place, with the amendments being approved.  Without the mirrored voting feature of the APEs under the depositary agreement, the proposals would not have passed.

Throughout March of 2023, the parties engaged in extensive expedited discovery. Then, on March 28, the parties participated in a mediation session with former Delaware Court of Chancery Vice Chancellor Joseph R. Slights III, with extensive follow-up negotiations over the next several days.  As a result of these negotiations, the parties executed a term sheet documenting a proposed settlement on April 2, 2023.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, AMC will issue to eligible class members new shares of AMC common stock collectively valued, based on recent market prices, at more than $129 million.  Specifically, each record holder of common stock immediately prior to convergence and at the time of the reverse split will receive one share of common stock for every 7.5 shares of common stock they hold (calculated on a post-split basis).  The proposed settlement is a significant recovery for the class at the injunction stage and one of the largest financial recoveries in a Delaware stockholder voting rights case.

The stipulation of settlement was filed with the Court on April 27, 2023.On May 4, 2023, Plaintiff filed a motion for final approval of the settlement and the Court held a final settlement approval hearing on June 29-30, 2023..  Additional information about the case and the settlement procedures are available in the notice and the Court’s letter.

Documents
Unredacted Operative Complaint Notice to Stockholders Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise, Settlement, and Release Scheduling Order with Respect to Notice and Settlement Hearing Court’s Letter to AMC Stockholders In-Person Settlement Objector Interest Form Plaintiffs’ Opening Brief In Support of Settlement Plaintiffs’ Affidavit and Exhibits filed in Support of Settlement Defendants’ Opening Brief in Support of Settlement Defendants’ Affidavit and Exhibits filed in Support of Settlement Report and Recommendation of Special Master re F. Iacono's Motion for Reargument Report and Recommendation of Special Master re B. Tuttle’s Motion to Intervene Order Denying Motion to Recuse Special Master C. Elise Amato Letter Decision re A. Mathew’s Motions to Recuse Special Master Amato Order Denying A. Mathew’s Motion to Recuse Special Master Report and Recommendation of Special Master re A. Mathew’s Motion to Intervene Reports and Recommendations of Special Master re A. Mathew’s Motion to Unseal Reports and Recommendations of Special Master re Certain Motions filed by A. Mathew Report and Recommendation of Special Master re Jordan Affholter’s Motion to Intervene Report and Recommendation of Special Master re Class Member Access to Discovery Record Letter to Counsel and Movants from Vice Chancellor Zurn re Exceptions to Report and Recommendation Court Letter Adopting Report on Discovery Access Letter from Vice Chancellor Zurn to Counsel and Interested Parties Report and Recommendation of Special Master re E. Leibovitz’s Rule 5.1 Notice of Challenge and Omnibus Motion Report and Recommendation of Special Master re J. Affholter’s Motion for Sanctions Letter Decision re J. Affholter's Objection to the Discovery Process Report and Recommendation of Special Master re A. Mathew’s Motion to Depose Letter Decision re J. Affholter’s Motion for Enlargement of Time and Objection to the Discovery Process Report and Recommendation re Requests to Intervene Report and Recommendation re Certain Motions filed by J. Affholter and E. Leibovitz’s Notice of Motion Oral Argument Requested Court Order Denying B. Tuttle’s Exceptions to the Special Master’s May 8, 2023 Report and Recommendation Letter Decision re (i) the Combined Motion by Counsel to Withdraw its Appearance on Behalf of Plaintiff U. Munoz and Motion by Lead Plaintiffs to Dismiss Lead Plaintiff U. Munoz, and (ii) Cross-Motion for Extension of Time and Permission to Notice Deposition Order Denying Additional Time and Permitting Notice of Deposition of Plaintiff U. Munoz Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion to Extend Word Limit Report and Recommendation of Special Master re J. Affholter’s Motion for Equal Protection Under the Law Regarding Access to Confidential Information and Discovery Plaintiffs’ Reply in Further Support of Settlement, Award of Attorneys' Fees and Expenses, and Incentive Awards Corrected Transmittal Affidavit of Thomas Curry in Support of Plaintiffs’ Reply in Further Support of Settlement, Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses, and Incentive Awards Public Redacted Version Of Exhibit 2 to Corrected Transmittal Affidavit of Thomas Curry Defendants’ Reply Brief in Further Support of Proposed Settlement Transmittal Affidavit of Kevin M. Gallagher, Esq. in Connection with Defendants’ Reply Brief in Further Support of Proposed Settlement Affidavit of Paul Mulholland Concerning Mailing of Post Card Notice Order Denying Mr. Affholter’s First And Second Exceptions Report and Recommendation of Special Master Regarding A. Mathew’s Motion For Discovery of Allegheny Plaintiff’s Trading History And Investigation And Motion For Issuance of Stock Certificate Report and Recommendation of Special Master Regarding Correspondence from Oheen Imara and Alexander Holland Report and Recommendation of Special Master Regarding A. Mathew’s Motion to Modify Status Quo and Motion for Revocation of Voting Privileges of Ape Shares Based on Infringement of DGCL Guidelines Second Revised Transmittal Affidavit of Michael J. Barry Providing Log of Stockholder Communications Order Establishing Hearing Protocols, Issued June 14, 2023 by Vice Chancellor Zurn Order Granting Rose Izzo’s Motion to Supplement the Record Supplemental Transmittal Affidavit of Theodore A. Kittila Containing Documents from the Confidential Discovery Database Granted (with Modifications) Order Withdrawing Plaintiff Usbaldo Munoz’s Appointment as Lead Plaintiff Letter To Counsel From Vice Chancellor Zurn, Dated June 20, 2023, Regarding Pre-Hearing Questions Third Revised Transmittal Affidavit of Michael J. Barry Providing Log of Stockholder Communications Report and Recommendation of the Special Master Regarding Objections to Proposed Settlement July 21 Opinion re Settlement July 22 Letter from T. Curry to Vice Chancellor Zurn, with Enclosures: (i) Addendum to Settlement Stipulation; (ii) Revised Proposed Final Judgment (clean); (iii) Revised Proposed Final Judgment (redline) July 24 Letter Opinion from the Court