The corporate owners of the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain may be in a bit of financial trouble, but the Dallas-Fort Worth chain won t be affected because they are two separate business entities, according to its owners. Alamo is just like a Chili s or a Jason s Deli, and the reason Alamo did that from the beginning wasn t for growth, says Bill C. DiGaetano, the co-owner of the six Drafthouse theaters in North Texas. It was to have owners in each specific market who have a vested interest in that community.
The national Alamo Drafthouse chain headquartered in Austin filed a written consent for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday in a Delaware bankruptcy court. The filing shows that the corporation and its parent companies will sell its assets to Altamont Capital and Fortress Investment Group so that Drafthouse can retain its managers including the chain s founder Tim League while it works to repay its creditors.