PVR to acquire DLF`s DT Cinemas

New Delhi: Multiplex major PVR today said it will acquire DLF Group`s theatre arm DT Cinemas in a stock and cash deal.The company will issue 25.57 lakh of its shares to DT Cinemas, representing 10 per cent of the fully diluted paid up share capital apart from making a payment of Rs 20.2 crore to fund the acquisition, PVR said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

DT cinemas has a portfolio of 29 screens, of which 26 are operational, while another three screens expected to commence operations in the next six months. PVR will convene an extra ordinary general meeting on December 16 to obtain approval from its shareholders for the deal. The deal will be on a slump sale basis (transfer of one or more business undertakings as a result of the sale for a lump-sum consideration without assigning values to individual assets and liabilities), it added. All the acquired cinemas are on long term lease in various mall developments being owned/operated by DLF Group, it said. As part of the alliance, PVR shall be offered exclusive rights to operate as a key anchor multiplex partner in all future mall developments of the DLF Group. DLF`s future mall projects include cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Noida, Jalandhar and Lucknow."The acquisition of DT Cinemas and long term strategic partnership with the prestigious DLF Group is part of our expansion strategy and will further enhance PVR`s position as a leading multiplex operator in the country," PVR Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli said. PVR will now control 60-70 per cent of the multiplex market share in Delhi and Gurgaon, he added. Shares of PVR today closed Rs 139.80 on the BSE, up 1.12 percent from its previous close. Bureau Report