PVR Ltd, India’s biggest movie exhibitor, and Major Cineplex Group have agreed to sell their bowling joint venture bluO entertainment to Smaaash Entertainment Pvt. Ltd for Rs86 crore in an all-cash deal.
PVR owns 51% in the BluO joint venture, while Thailand’s Major Cineplex Group owns the rest.
The sale is part of PVR’s strategy to sell non-core assets and focus on its main cinema exhibition business, chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli said in a statement on Tuesday.
Smaaash chairman Shripal Morakhia said the deal will help double the company’s scale and outreach in India’s fast-growing retail entertainment sector.
The area under Smaash management in India will increase to approximately 600,000 sq. ft from 276,000 sq. ft after the transaction is completed.
Consulting firm EY acted as the financial adviser to PVR and Major Cineplex for the transaction.
Co-owned by cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Smaash owns and operates sports-centric digital entertainment centres for cricket, football, racing, bowling and other recreational activities in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Bengaluru.
It currently has five gaming arcades in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Noida and Hyderabad. The company is known for its arcades that feature sports such as cricket, football, paintball, go-karting and a host of virtual games.
Smaaash was started by Morakhia in 2012 with its first centre of over 40,000 sq. ft in Mumbai. Morakhia was also founder of brokerage firm Sharekhan.The newly acquired centres will operate under Smaaash branding and two more centres are expected to open shortly, the statement said.
Source: Mint