July 22 (Reuters) - AMC Entertainment Holdings ( AMC )

said on Monday it had reached an agreement with creditors that

extends up to $2.45 billion of debt maturities from 2026 to 2029

and beyond.

The agreement will also allow AMC to reduce debt by $464

million by converting exchangeable notes into equity.

The company had been grappling with the aftermath of the

Hollywood strikes last year that shut down productions and

affected theater chains across the country.

"The box office challenges of the first half of 2024 are now

in the rear-view mirror. The recovery momentum is back. We

expect strong year-over-year box office growth in the back half

of 2024, continuing into 2025 and 2026," CEO Adam Aron said in a

statement.

Under the terms of the deal, AMC will issue $1.2 billion of

new secured term loans due 2029 in consideration for an open

market purchase of senior secured term loans due 2026.

AMC and its units will also issue about $414 million of

exchangeable notes for cash, with proceeds used to repurchase

roughly $414 million of second-lien notes.