Chinese theater owners said to be interested in purchasing AMC

• Marshall Matlock
• AMC is apparently on the block.

Wanda Group, the Chinese equivalent of AMC Entertainment, is believed to be in talks to acquire the chain of North American theaters headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The New York Times reports that negotiations became serious when AMC apparently decided to forgo an initial public offering at the end of April. AMC has been owned by a consortium of investors and private equity firms (JP Morgan and Bain Capital among them) since 2004. The Times estimates that the company would currently be worth in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion.

AMC announced last September that it would move its headquarters from downtown Kansas City to Leawood in the spring of 2013.