AMC shareholder sues to force company to hold annual meeting

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is facing a lawsuit from one of its shareholders in Delaware court. The shareholder, Kevin Barnes, claims that AMC is overdue in holding its annual meeting, which is when shareholders vote to elect the company's board members.

The case is called Barnes v. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., No. 2023-0718, and it's in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

According to AMC's own rules, they are required to hold a meeting every year, but the last one was on June 16, 2022. Kevin Barnes wants the court to order AMC to hold the next meeting by August 18.

In Delaware, the law protects the right of shareholders to attend annual meetings, and they can sue if a meeting hasn't been held in the last 13 months.

The lawsuit also points out that two members of AMC's nine-member board were appointed by the company without a shareholder election. Kevin Barnes is unhappy with how the company is being run and says there have been many lawsuits by shareholders because of this, including one where shareholders tried to stop a stock conversion plan.

There is another legal matter related to the stock conversion plan that is currently being looked at by a Delaware judge. If the judge agrees, the stock conversion can go ahead.

At the last annual meeting, shareholders voted against the proposed pay for top executive Adam Aron.