Two cos buy Temasek's 13% in Fame for Rs 14 cr

MUMBAI: Two little known investment companies have bought nearly 13.4% of the equity of Fame India, a leading multiplex chain, when the Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek offloaded the stock on Friday.
It���s unclear at this stage whether Gulshan Investment and Shail Investments ��� the two companies which acquired the stock ��� are part of any large corporate group.

When contacted by ET some of the leading groups like Reliance ADAG (which owns Big Cinemas), Fun Cinemas, Inox, Cinemax and PVR said they have no connection with the concerned investment firms. According to information shared with the National Stock Exchange, Gulshan has picked up 22.74 lakh shares while Shail has purchased 23.95 lakh shares at Rs 30 per share.

The total deal value is about Rs 14 crore. The shares of Fame India (formerly Shringar Cinemas) rose over 5% to close at Rs 30.90 on Friday. Friday���s bulk deals mark Temasek���s exited from the company.

The company, promoted by Shyam Shroff and his son Shravan Shroff, runs 93 screens across 12 cities in India and also has interests in film distribution. Neither the Shroffs nor the Fame spokesperson could be contacted despite repeated attempts. For the quarter ended June 30, 2009 , Fame India���s net loss rose to Rs 9.5 crore from Rs 3.66 crore during the year ago period.

After past few years��� buoyant growth, the multiplex industry in India has slowed down as the real estate market softened.

However, some of the bigger players in the exhibition space are exploring expansions. Among them, Cinepolis, a Mexican multiplex chain which is entering India, and the ADAG-owned Big Cinemas have announced expansion plans.
Temasek, held the stake through two subsidiaries ��� Aranda Investments (Mauritius) and Dunearn Investments (Mauritius). About 10% of this 13.4% equity was acquired in July, 2005 at Rs 62.50 a share from India Value Fund.