SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s Wanda Group, the largest shareholder of AMC Entertainment Holdings Ltd, conducted a stock conversion to enable the sale of its shares in the cinema operator, a target of the recent WallStreetBets shopping frenzy, AMC said in a stock exchange filing .
Wanda America Entertainment Inc, a Wanda entity, converted its Class B common stock in AMC into Class A shares on February 1 “to facilitate the sale of its common stock,” AMC said in its filing with US Securities and Exchange Commission on February 5.
The filing did not provide details on the number of shares converted to Class A shares or whether Wanda had sold shares in AMC. Wanda did not immediately return a request for comment.
AMC shares hit $ 17.25 on Feb. 1, nearly a four-fold increase from a week earlier, as social media platforms like Reddit fueled frantic retail purchases in highly shorted stocks like AMC and GameStop.
AMC shares fell 41% the following day and the stock is now down about 60% from its February 1 peak.
The social media-fueled trading frenzy has cooled in recent days as U.S. financial regulators scrutinized GameStop’s Reddit-driven stock hike.
Wanda, whose businesses range from real estate to entertainment, bought a majority stake in AMC for $ 2.6 billion in 2012, in what was then the largest overseas acquisition by a private Chinese company.
In 2018, the once-acquiring Chinese conglomerate narrowed its exposure to the US cinema operator amid tougher regulatory scrutiny by Beijing on the overseas expansion of Chinese businesses.
According to the group’s website, Wanda still has a majority stake in AMC. Wanda also owns Hollywood producer Legendary Entertainment and Australian cinema chain Hoyts Cinema, the website said.
Reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh; edited by Richard Pullin