Less than four years after its arrival in Sweden, American exhibitor AMC is quitting the territory. Scandinavian major SF Bio will now be taking over its multiplex in Heron City in the southern region of Stockholm. The name of the multiplex, which has 18 screens and a total of 4,166 seats, will change to Filmstaden Heron City.

"This is a great opportunity to increase our range of movie theatres," says Jan Bernhardsson, CEO of SF Bio. "The arrangement fits right in with our plans to establish operations on the south side of Stockholm."

Jan Bernardsson is confident that SF will be more successful in Heron City than AMC has been, mainly because SF is playing on its home ground: "During 85 years in the business, we have learned one or two things," he says. He also refers to the company's experiences with a multiplex in the northern region of Stockholm, Filmstaden Kista.

Since AMC moved in to Heron City, the distribution branch of SF (SF Film / Svensk Filmindustri) has refused to screen any of its films there. However, AMC does not seem to have sore feelings about this today:

"The theatre complex is an excellent asset that will be in good hands with the SF Bio organisation." says Mark McDonald, Executive Vice President of AMC Entertainment International.