National Amusements

National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately-owned theater company and mass media holding company based in Dedham, Massachusetts and incorporated in Maryland.[1] It was the parent company of the first incarnation of Viacom, CBS Corporation and the second incarnation of Viacom that were split off in 2006; the two separated companies has been re-merged to form ViacomCBS in 2019, and expired by June 2020.

National Amusements, Inc.
Private
IndustryEntertainment
Movie theaters
Founded1936 (1936) in Dedham, Massachusetts
FounderMichael Redstone
Headquarters
Norwood, Massachusetts
,
U.S.
Key people
Owners
  • Sumner Redstone (80%)
  • Shari Redstone (20%)
Number of employees
23,900(2017)
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.nationalamusements.com

At the end of 2008, due to financial troubles, owners Sumner Redstone and Shari Redstone sold $400 million of nonvoting shares in National Amusements.[2][3] In October 2009, the company sold almost $1 billion of its interest in the stock of CBS and Viacom[4] and sold 35 theaters to Rave Motion Pictures. Today these theatres are owned by Cinemark, AMC, Alamo, or have closed. National Amusements now almost exclusively operates theaters in the Northeastern United States (with the exception of one location in Ohio).[5] The following year, National Amusements planned to sell $390 million of notes to refinance a large part of the company's bank owed debt.[6]

As of December 2016, National Amusements, directly and through subsidiaries, holds approximately 79.8% of the Class A (voting) common stock of Viacom Inc., constituting 10% of the overall equity of the Company, and holds approximately 79.5% of the Class A (voting) common stock and 2.4% of the Class B (non‐voting) common stock of CBS Corporation, constituting 9.1% of the overall equity of the Company. The company also holds an unspecified stake in Entercom, as part of the reverse Morris trust that spun CBS's radio assets off to that company; CBS Corporation shareholders overall hold a 72% stake in Entercom.[7]

The company operates more than 1,500 movie screens across the Northeastern United States, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and Russia under its Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, Cinema de Lux, and KinoStar brands. It also operates a nightclub in Foxborough, Massachusetts called Showcase Live, which is located next to a Showcase Cinema de Lux.

In 2019, it was announced that the multinational media conglomerates controlled by National Amusements (Viacom and CBS Corporation), would merge to form a new company named ViacomCBS.[8]

References
  1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2018-03-26). "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR".
  2. James, Meg (October 11, 2008). "Redstone hit by credit troubles". LA Times. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  3. Staff, Variety (21 December 2015). "Report: Shari Redstone Rejected $1 Billion Buyout Offer of Her Stake in Family Empire".
  4. Edward B. Colby (2009-10-14). "National Amusements Inc. to sell nearly $1B of its Viacom, CBS stock". The Daily News Transcript. Archived from the original on 2010-04-24.
  5. Nikki Finke (2009-12-07). "Rave To Acquire 35 Of Redstone's National Amusements Theater Complexes". Archived from the original on 2013-02-15.
  6. Korby, Boris; Maheshwari, Sapna (November 23, 2010). "National Amusements Plans to Sell $390 Million of Notes to Refinance Debt". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  7. "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom". Variety. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  8. "Media giants to merge in latest mega-deal". 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.