Investment firm Mudrick Capital has exited both its debt and equity positions in AMC Entertainment, sources tell CNBC’s David Faber, as the movie theater chain’s stock continues to trade wildly amid a boom in speculative retail trading.
AMC announced earlier this week that it had sold 8.5 million equity shares to Mudrick for $230.5 million. The hedge fund was also involved in a key $100 million debt restructuring deal with AMC in December.
AMC has been one of the main meme stocks whose share price has risen dramatically following high interest from retail traders on Reddit. Even with an 18% decline on Thursday, the stock is still up 96% this week.
The movie theater chain, which saw its business effectively shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, has taken advantage of the climbing share price to raise cash.
The company sold another 11.5 million shares on Thursday for $587 million. CEO Adam Aron told YouTube host Trey Collins that he wants to issue an additional 25 million shares.
AMC had $5.5 billion in long-term debt and $842 million in cash through the end of March, according to FactSet. But the company said it will use the latest capital raised to pay down that hefty debt load further.
The company may also use the funds to buy other theaters, AMC said.
Bloomberg News first reported that Mudrick had exited its equity position in AMC.
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