By Mary Ellen Podmolik
| AMC Entertainment Inc. completed its $275 million acquisition of
Chicago-based Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres LLC, which operates 95 movie
complexes and 972 screens in 21 markets.

The deal also gives Regal Entertainment Group a bigger footprint in the
local market and entry into the city of Chicago.

AMC confirmed Tuesday that it has sold to Regal the AMC Gardens 13 in
Skokie; Kerasotes Glen 10 in Glenview; AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville;
and Kerasotes Showplace 12 in Bolingbrook. The Justice Department said
late Friday that AMC would have to divest those complexes, as well as
ones in the Indianapolis and Denver markets, in order for the
AMC-Kerasotes deal to pass regulatory scrutiny.

In acquiring Kerasotes, AMC grows to 380 theaters and 5,325 screens nationally, a spokesman said.  Not included in AMC’s  acquisition are three of Kerasotes’ theaters, including its ShowPlace ICON location in Chicago.

On Monday, Regal Entertainment Group announced
its acquisition from AMC of two Kerasotes complexes in Chicago, Chicago City North 14 and Webster Place 11. Those theaters will open under Regal ownership at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Before the latest deal, Regal’s Chicago market presence was confined to theaters in Crystal Lake, Lake Zurich, Lincolnshire and Round Lake Beach.