AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the U.S. movie chain controlled by China’s richest man, plans to raise as much as $368 million in an initial public offering.

The company, based in Leawood, Kansas, plans to sell 18.4 million shares at $18 to $20 each, according to a statement Monday. AMC Entertainment said it will use the proceeds to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes. The company said in August it may seek to raise as much as $400 million.

The offering of Class A shares would return AMC, the second-largest U.S. theater chain by revenue, to a public listing for the first time in nine years. It was acquired last year by Dalian Wanda Group for $2.6 billion, including assumption of debt. Dalian Wanda, China’s largest entertainment company, is led by Wang Jianlin, whose estimated net worth of $12.4 billion is the highest in China, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

AMC was a public company before its purchase in 2004 by Apollo Global Management and JPMorgan Chase & Co. It was subsequently merged with Loews Cineplex, a chain owned by Bain Capital LLC, Carlyle Group LP and Spectrum Equity Investors. Wang’s Dalian Wanda bought the company in May 2012.

Citigroup and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint book- running managers and representatives of the underwriters, according to the statement. AMC plans to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 2.63 million shares of Class A stock. The Company has applied to list the stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AMC.”

The theater industry is in transition, AMC said in a Nov. 27 filing, with exhibitors focused more on sound and picture quality and on comfort than on physical expansion.

2013 Revenue

“It is the ease of use and the amenities that these innovations bring to customers that will drive sustained profitability in the years ahead,” AMC said.

AMC had sales of $2.04 billion through nine months of 2013, and 4,950 screens, according to filings and company statements. Regal Entertainment Group is the largest U.S. exhibitor, with sales of $2.3 billion through nine months and more than 7,300 screens, according to company statements.

In addition to interests in real estate, retail and hospitality, Wanda is China’s largest theater operator through Wanda Cinema Line, according to the filing. The combined ownership of the two chains has allowed both companies to obtain better terms from food, lighting and theater-supply vendors, they said.

Theater Investments

Wanda invested about $700 million in connection with its purchase of AMC, according to the filing. AMC, led by Chief Executive Officer Gerry Lopez, plans to pay cash dividends following completion of the offering.

The Chinese parent company will retain the power to control AMC’s affairs in terms of board elections, mergers and other extraordinary transactions, according to the filing.

As part of a stock reclassification ahead of the IPO, AMC plans to convert existing Class A and Class N shares. Class A investors will received an unspecified number of Class B shares, which will have three votes each. The Class N stock will be converted into an unspecified number of Class A shares, according to the filing.