Reliance ADAG hikes stake in Fame to 13.79 per cent, shouts at Fame recasting board

Reliance MediaWorks (RNW), part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), determined not to take a backseat in the battle with Inox Leisure for control of Fame India, has hiked its stake in Fame India to 13.79 per cent.

It also cried foul at Fame recasting its board.

Reliance Capital Partners, an arm of ADAG, acquired an additional 0.03 per cent stake in Fame India yesterday by buying 11,830 equity shares at an average price of Rs82.10 per share, taking the total holding of ADAG in Fame India to 13.79 per cent.

On 3 February, Inox, operator of a chain of multiplexes across the country and a subsidiary Gujarat Flurochemicals, had acquired 43.28 per cent in Fame India Ltd for Rs66.48 crore, (See: Inox becomes India's largest multiplex operator with Fame stake acquisition) and followed it up two days later by acquiring an additional 7.21 per cent in a block deal for Rs12.77 crore to take its total stake in Fame to 50.49-per cent.
 
Inox, which paid an average price of Rs44 per share for Fame said that it will follow up on its stake acquisition in Fame with an open offer to acquire an additional 20 per cent stake for cash in accordance with SEBI Regulations soon.

On 22 February, RNW jumped into the Inox-Fame acquisition with a hostile counter-bid to acquire a majority stake in Fame, to thwart rival Inox Leisure from becoming the largest multiplex chain operator in the country. (See: Reliance Media unable to digest Inox's Fame)

RMW said that it would make an open offer to acquire 52.48 per cent in Fame India at Rs83.40 per share, for approximately Rs180.14 crore.
The offer represented a 63.5-per cent premium to the existing takeover bid by Inox Leisure to Fame shareholders.