Don’t be surprised if you drive by the Rave Motion Pictures locations at Lee Branch, Patton Creek, and Vestavia City Center in early 2013 and you see another logo on them instead.

Those three theater complexes are being included in a deal that sees sixteen locations across seven states being sold to Carmike Cinemas. The purchase was announced earlier today is expected to be closed by the end of the calendar year.

The acquisition effectively removes Rave, a theater chain founded in 1999 and in Birmingham since late 2002, from the state of Alabama (save for the one location still operating in Montgomery). As the Birmingham Business Journal reported earlier today, the press release states the purchase price includes both cash and assumed lease obligations.

The merger also provides for an expansion of Carmike’s presence in the area (doubling the number of locations in the metro area) while making it possible for them to inherit one of the region’s IMAX screens (operating since 2010) and three facilities that feature all-digital projectors.

Unless it’s marking the beginning of the end of Rave as we know it, they should still be around for a while; they’ll still be operating 46 theaters after the deal’s closed.

Photo: Neon Rave. kejoli/Flickr.