Showing posts with label Shrikant Bhasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shrikant Bhasi. Show all posts
CFM ARC wins bid for defunct Carnival Cinemas
7:51 AM
Joel Rebello (THE ECONOMIC TIMES; November 14, 2024)
Mumbai: Distressed debt aggregator CFM ARC has emerged as the winning bidder for defunct Carnival Cinemas.
This follows CFM offering Rs. 78 crore to take over Carnival's Rs. 1,290 crore debt from rival JC Flowers ARC, which did not get any challenging bid by the October 31 deadline, people familiar with the matter said.
JC Flowers will be transferring the loans of Carnival to CFM after completing the necessary paperwork and payment by this month-end, the people said.
JC Flowers declined to comment, while CFM did not respond to an email query.
Carnival's debt was taken over by JC Flowers from Yes Bank in December 2022 as part of a Rs. 48,000-crore stressed asset loan portfolio bought by the ARC for Rs. 11,200 crore in a 15:85 cash-to-security receipts structure.
CFM's bid for Carnival's debt envisages an all-cash recovery of about 6% of the total dues. It includes a principal amount of Rs. 831 crore and interest of Rs. 459 crore owed by four entities - Carnival Films, Cinema Ventures, Carnival Films Entertainment and Stargaze Entertainment.
Carnival Cinemas was classified as a non-performing asset (NPA) by its sole lender Yes Bank in 2022 after the Shrikant Bhasi-promoted multiplex chain defaulted on its payments due to losses incurred following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Carnival had about 450 screens at peak, many of which did not reopen after the pandemic. The company had built its business model on the back of acquisitions.
Starting with a four-screen theatre in Kochi, it grew aggressively after acquiring Anil Ambani's Big Cinemas for Rs. 700 crore, HDIL's Broadway for Rs. 110 crore and Network 18's Glitz Cinemas. Later, it announced taking over the operations of Maharashtra-based E-Square Cinemas' 37 existing operational screens.
To be sure, as most of the cinema halls were on lease, the security the bank had was much lower than the value of the loan. It is unclear whether CFM plans to recover its investment in the debt.
Carnival Cinemas takes over Big Cinemas from Reliance MediaWorks
7:42 AM
The new owner of the theatre chain wants to enhance the cinema-going experience.
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 16, 2014)
On August 11, Mirror reported that Carnival Group from Kochi, Malaysian Group Navis and the Chennai-based Satyam Group, along with PVR and Inox, are in contention for a merger with Reliance MediaWorks (RMW) which controls the theatre chain, Big Cinemas.
At that time Daljeet S Singh, the RMW spokesperson, had said that there were no plans to sell the chain.
However, on Monday, RMW announced that in an attempt to reduce Reliance Capital's overall debt by around Rs 700 crore, it had sold its multiplex business, excluding IMAX Wadala, to Carnival Cinemas. This development makes Carnival one of the top three multiplex players in India, with over 300 screens across the country.
Shrikant Bhasi, Chairman, Carnival Group, revealed that their target is to have 1,000 screens by 2017. "We are in talks with a couple of other multiplex chains and aim to be No 2 by the end of this financial year," Bhasi asserted.
In July, the group had acquired HDIL's multiplex chain Broadway Cinemas for Rs 11 crore as part of its expansion.
In an interview Bhasi had promised "value for money" to patrons. When quizzed on how he plans to outscore his bigger rivals, PVR and Inox, Bhasi said: "More than the metros, our focus is on the tier II and tier III cities. With food courts, cafes and entertainment centres for kids, our theatres will offer families a complete package that goes beyond just watching a movie. We want to turn the cinema viewing experience into a carnival."
The corporate has also forayed into movie production, exhibition and distribution. They have produced four Malayalam movies and two Hindi films and plan to invest in more movies in the future.
Bhasi also has some surprises in store for his Mumbai customers. Although he remained tight-lipped on details, he said: "We plan to up the entertainment quotient of cinema-going with interesting add-ons."
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