NEW YORK -- AMC Theatres is buying European movie theatre operator Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group in a deal valued at about 921 million pounds ($1.21 billion).
AMC says that the transaction will make it the biggest movie theatre operator in the world. Odeon & UCI has 242 theatres in Europe. The deal will give AMC a total of 627 theatres in eight countries.
AMC, which was bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group in 2012, is still in the process of buying American movie theatre operator Carmike Cinemas. That transaction, which was announced in March, is valued at $1.1 billion including debt.
On Tuesday, AMC said that the Odeon & UCI transaction doesn't impact its ability to close on the Carmike deal. The company said it has the financing commitments and flexibility to do both.
