National Amusements

National Amusements, Inc.
Private
Industry Entertainment
Movie theaters
Founded Dedham, Massachusetts in 1936 (1936)
Founder Michael Redstone
Headquarters Norwood, Massachusetts, United States
Area served
 Nationwide
Key people
 Sumner Redstone
(Chairman & CEO)
Shari Redstone
(President)
Owner Sumner Redstone (80%)[1]
Shari Redstone (20%)[1]
Parent Independent (1936–1992, 1997–present)
Crédit Lyonnais (1992–1997)
Divisions Showcase Cinemas
Cinema de Lux
Multiplex Cinemas
KinoStar
UCI Cinemas (Brazil)
Subsidiaries Viacom
CBS Corporation
Website www.nationalamusements.com

National Amusements, Inc. is an American privately owned theater company based in Dedham, Massachusetts, United States. The company was founded in 1936, as the Northeast Theatre Corporation by Michael Redstone.

National Amusements is now owned by Michael Redstone's son, Sumner Redstone, who holds 80% of the company, and Sumner's daughter, Shari Redstone, who owns the remaining 20%. Through National Amusements, the Redstones control both the CBS Corporation (owner of CBS) and Viacom (owner of Paramount Pictures) through supervoting shares.[2]

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 City Center 15 Cinema De Lux in White Plains, New York's City Center includes a waiting area with a TV, newspaper rack and sofas (left), a piano (center), and a bar and grill restaurant (not pictured).

The company operates more than 1,500 movie screens across the Northeastern United States, one location in Springdale, Ohio, the United Kingdom, Latin America, and Russia under its Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, Cinema de Lux, and KinoStar brands.

National Amusements is equal partners in MovieTickets.com.

National Amusements' slogan, "Welcome to the Show", was coined by policy trailer producer Pike Productions, Inc., with which National Amusements had an exclusive contract until Filmack acquired Pike, in the late 2000s.

Financial troubles

At the end of 2008, the Redstones' financial troubles started when billionaire Sumner Redstone had to dump $400 million of nonvoting shares.[3]

It was released that National Amusements planned to sell $390 million of notes in another attempt to refinance a large part of the company's bank owed debt.[4]

Sale of theaters and subsidiary stock

In October 2009, the news was released that National Amusements would be selling almost $1 billion of stock they own in CBS and Viacom.[5] National Amusements has sold 35 theaters to Rave Motion Pictures. Today these theatres are owned by Cinemark. National Amusements now almost exclusively operates theaters in the Northeast (with the exception of one location in Ohio). [6]

Main competitors

References

  1. 1 2 Staff, Variety (21 December 2015). "Report: Shari Redstone Rejected $1 Billion Buyout Offer of Her Stake in Family Empire".
  2. ↑ Greg Griffin (2007-02-05). "Redstones settle feud over family business". The Denver Post.
  3. ↑ James, Meg (October 11, 2008). "Redstone hit by credit troubles". LA Times. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  4. ↑ Korby, Boris; Maheshwari, Sapna (November 23, 2010). "National Amusements Plans to Sell $390 Million of Notes to Refinance Debt". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  5. ↑ Edward B. Colby (2009-10-14). "National Amusements Inc. to sell nearly $1B of its Viacom, CBS stock". The Daily News Transcript.
  6. ↑ Nikki Finke (2009-12-07). "Rave To Acquire 35 Of Redstone’s National Amusements Theater Complexes".
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