PVR, INOX announce merger to 'deliver unparalleled movie-going experience'

Cinema brands PVR Limited and INOX Leisure Limited announced their merger on Sunday and said the combined entity would be "delivering an unparalleled movie-going experience" to the audience.

The new 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, said a press release by PVR and Inox.

"Post the merger, PVR promoters will have a 10.62 per cent stake while Inox promoters will have a 16.66 per cent stake in the combined entity," said the release. Upon obtaining all approvals, when the merger becomes effective, INOX will merge with PVR. Shareholders of Inox will receive shares of PVR in exchange for shares in INOX at the approved share exchange ratio.

Ajay Bijli would be appointed as the managing director and Sanjeev Kumar would be appointed as the executive director. Pavan Kumar Jain would be appointed as the Non- Executive Chairman of the Board. Siddharth Jain would be appointed as non-executive non-independent director in the combined entity. "With PVR currently operating 871 screens across 181 properties in 73 cities and INOX operating 675 screens across 160 properties in 72 cities, the combined entity will become the largest film exhibition company in India operating 1546 screens across 341 properties across 109 cities," said the release.

Bijli, chairman and managing director of PVR, said that the partnership will put consumers at the centre of its vision. "This is a momentous occasion that brings together two companies with significantly complementary strengths. The partnership of these two brands will put consumers at the centre 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," he said.

Jain, director, INOX Leisure Ltd, called the merger of the cinema brands "historic" and said it is driven by passion. "Coming together of two iconic cinema brands, which are driven by passion, is certainly the most historic moment in the Indian cinema exhibition industry. Both companies have set high service benchmarks in an endeavour to offer the best cinema experience in the world, to the most passionate moviegoers, and would continue to do so as a unified entity," he said.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com