By Kenan Machado
MUMBAI--PVR Ltd. (532689.BY) said Wednesday a private-equity fund sponsored by French luxury goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMUY) has agreed to invest about 1.08 billion rupees ($19.45 million) in the Indian cinema-screen operator and a proposed joint venture combined.
PVR will allot 2.89 million shares to L Capital Asia LLC for 577 million rupees, or 200 rupees a share, on a preferential basis.
The price is 21.5% more than PVR's Tuesday closing price of 164.65 rupees.
The private-equity firm, which has funds of $640 million, will make an initial investment of another 501 million rupees to set up a joint venture with PVR. The venture will invest in businesses that run entertainment, gaming, food and other leisure facilities in malls.
The investment from L Capital will help PVR turn into a lifestyle and entertainment company over the next four-five years from a purely cinema-chain operator, PVR Chairman Ajay Bijli said in the press release.
Shares in PVR closed 12.6% up at 185.40 rupees Wednesday on the Bombay Stock Exchange where the benchmark Sensitive Index rose 0.1%.
-Write to Kenan Machado at kenan.machado@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 01, 2012 08:19 ET (12:19 GMT)
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