AMC Entertainment replaces CEO

By Carl DiOrio

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Nineteen-year AMC Entertainment veteran Peter Brown was replaced Tuesday as head of the nation's second-biggest theater chain by a consumer-savvy Starbucks executive in a surprise move stirring speculation about the company's future.

Owned by J.P. Morgan Partners and Apollo Management since a 2004 takeover of the then-public company, AMC announced a $789 million initial public offering in 2006 only to cancel the plans the following year over poor market conditions. The failed IPO might have caused Brown to lose favor with the company's current owners, who still need an exit strategy on their pricey investment.

The changing of the guard at AMC -- where retail veteran Gerry Lopez replaces Brown as CEO and gets a board seat -- also spurred rumors that the company might move out of Kansas City, Missouri, its corporate roost since its founding in 1920 by the local Durwood family.

"The only reason they are still there is because of Peter Brown, who has his family there," a top distribution executive said.

Lopez most recently served as an executive vice president at Starbucks, where he was also president of its global consumer products, food-service and Seattle's Best Coffee divisions. Lopez assumes his AMC responsibilities effective March 2.

"Peter Brown has been an integral part of AMC's extraordinary growth and innovation," said Aaron Stone, an AMC director now elevated to board chairman.

Said Brown: "Having helped the company grow from $400 million in revenue when I joined it to the $2.3 billion world-class company it has become, the time is right for me to turn to the next phase of my life and to the opportunities that exist. I leave the company confident that it is in the hands of a leader whose deep marketing and consumer background will take it to new heights."

Brown joined AMC in 1990 and was appointed chairman and CEO in 1999. He was just the third chairman in AMC's 89-year history.