PVR and INOX Leisure, two of India’s biggest theatre chain companies are set to come together to form a film exhibition company with over 1,500 screens from both pools.
“The Board of Directors of INOX Leisure Limited (INOX) and the Board of Directors of PVR Limited (PVR), at their respective meetings held today, have approved an all stock amalgamation of INOX with PVR,” read the official statement.
The combined entity will be named PVR INOX Limited with the branding of existing screens to continue as PVR and INOX respectively. New cinemas opened post the merger will be branded as PVR INOX.
The merger will be conducted in a share exchange ratio, wherein, three equity shares of PVR will be swapped for 10 equity shares of INOX.
Post the merger, promoters of INOX will become co-promoters in the merged entity along with the existing promoters of PVR.
While Pavan Kumar Jha will serve as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Ajay Bijli will step in as the managing director of the merged entity. Sanjeev Kumar would be appointed as the Executive Director, and Siddharth Jain will be seen as Non-Executive Non-Independent Director.
Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director of PVR, said, “This is a momentous occasion that brings together two companies with significantly complementary strengths. The partnership of these two brands will put consumer at the center of its vision and deliver an unparalleled movie-going experience to them. The film exhibition sector has been one of the worst impacted sectors on account of the pandemic and creating scale to achieve efficiencies is critical for the long term survival of the business and fight the onslaught of digital OTT platforms.”
“As we head into the industry’s revival amidst headwinds, this decisive partnership would bring in enhanced productivity through scale, a deeper reach in newer markets and numerous cost optimisation opportunities, and continue to delight cinema fans with world-class experiences and landmark innovations,” Jain, the Director of INOX Leisure, said in a statement.
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“With INOX operating 675 screens across 160 properties in 72 cities and PVR currently operating 871 screens across 181 properties in 73 cities, the combined entity will become the largest film exhibition company in India operating 1,546 screens across 341 properties across 109 cities,” the statement added.
The combined entity would also work towards taking world-class cinema experience closer to the consumers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, in addition to countering adversities posed by the advent of various OTT platforms and the after-effects of the pandemic.
The amalgamation, however, is subject to approval of the shareholders of INOX and PVR respectively, stock exchanges, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), and other such regulatory bodies.