Saudi’s government-owned amusement industry subsidiary, SEVEN, is to buy out the equity in the Saudi Cinema Company (SCC) held by AMC Entertainment Holdings for a price of US$30m.
SEVEN, the Saudi Entertainment Ventures, is owned by the government ‘s Public Investment Fund. AMC Entertainment will then change from a management and investment business in SCC to a licensing relationship.
AMC opened the first cinema in Saudi in 2018 after the rules had been relaxed to permit films back into the country after many years. It formed SCC in partnership with SEVEN to build and operate cinemas.
AMC CEO Adam Aron said: “When the joint venture was created it had two goals. First was to bring movie-going to the Saudi people. Secondly, and equally important, to train a theatre management and corporate team such that at some point in the future, the enterprise could be run locally within the kingdom.”
There are presently 13 movie theatres under the AMC banner in Saudi Arabia and SCC will continue to use the AMC brand for future openings.
