Private Equity-owned Companies in Times Square 

234 W 42^nd St.; 243 W 42^nd St.

Private equity owners: Apollo, Bain Capital, Carlyle Group, JP Morgan Partners, Spectrum Equity

Owned by private equity since: 2004

Deal value: $1.67 Billion

Employees: 24,000

Last year more than a quarter billion moviegoers sat in the dark at an AMC Theatre, and the company pulled in more than $2.5 billion in revenue as a result. AMC, the company best known for such technological advances as the cup-holder on the armrest and stadium seating megaplexes, was bought in 2004 by buyout firms Apollo and JP Morgan Partners for $1.67 billion. For buying the company, the firms were rewarded with $20 million in transaction fees, the price of roughly 4 million king-sized tubs of popcorn. In 2006, AMC merged with its competitor, Loews Cineplex, with the help of three more private equity firms: Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity. Despite maintaining a high level of debt ($2.5 billion), cutting jobs and using a mostly part-time workforce, a recent plan to take AMC public failed. However the buyout firms were able to borrow another $400 million to give themselves a dividend. Though more than one AMC employee at the Times Square theater told us they “hate” their jobs, where they are paid as little as $7.15/ hour with no health benefits, one did mention she enjoyed “the free movies.”