Private equity investor Warburg Pincus purchased a 14 per cent stake in India's largest cinema chain, PVR Ltd, for Rs.820…
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Private equity investor Warburg Pincus purchased a 14 per cent stake in India's largest cinema chain, PVR Ltd, for Rs.820 crore via a block deal on the markets on Wednesday, boosting its stock price.
Warburg, whose $300 million investment in Bharti Airtel Ltd gave the fund a return of more than six times in the last decade, bought a 5 per cent stake from the promoter family led by Ajay Bijli and another 9 per cent stake from a private fund Multiples Equity, led by former ICICI Bank stalwart Renuka Ramnath. She is also a non-executive director on the cinema powerhouse.
Chairman Ajay Bijli started out with a single screen cinema in the late 1990s and has created a giant with 500 screens under its belt. The company has also swallowed smaller rivals in its three-decade journey.
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Bijli, based out of Delhi, said the family sold a part of its stake for personal reasons and that the sale would help improve their liquidity. Nearly 36 lakh shares of PVR were traded on the National Stock Exchange for Rs.453 crore.
Ramnath's fund remains invested in the multiplex giant. PVR closed 3 per cent higher at Rs.1,282.
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