National CineMedia and Screenvision LLC have agreed to put their proposed merger on hold until a court rules on a U.S. government lawsuit that claims it would create a movie advertising monopoly, a lawyer for National CineMedia said Friday.The disclosure came at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan, who scheduled April 13 for a trial in the Justice Department's challenge filed on Nov. 3."We have agreed that the defendants will not close the transaction pending the decision of the court," said Paul Friedman, a lawyer for National CineMedia.National CineMedia had hoped to complete the merger in 2014, Chief Executive Kurt Hall said on an Aug. 5 conference call.
National CineMedia, Inc. (NCM, Inc.) is a holding company that manages its consolidated subsidiary NCM LLC. Shares of NCMI traded higher by 0.14% or $0.02/share to $14.06. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $11.70 and as high as $20.22. On average, 491026 shares of NCMI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 236016.
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