Reliance MediaWorks ups Fame India stake to 15.77 per cent

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) firm Reliance MediaWorks has raised its equity stake in multiplex chain Fame India Ltd to 15.77 per cent by acquiring an additional 0.05 per cent on Tuesday.

Reliance MediaWorks Ltd and Reliance Capital Ltd together purchased 16,196 equity shares, constituting 0.05 per cent of the equity share capital of Fame India Ltd, at an average price of Rs83.11 and a highest price of Rs83.35 per equity share.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said it made the acquisitions in the open market, on the normal segment on the stock exchange, on 6 July.

Reliance MediaWorks, the film and media services firm of the ADAG, which operates BIG Cinemas, the country's largest cinema chain, has been locked in a take-over tussle with Inox Leisure, another multiplex chain, for Fame India.

Inox had acquired 43.28 per cent stake in Fame India at Rs44 a share in February when the promoters sold their stake, far below the Reliance MediaWorks offer price of around Rs80 per share.

Inox then bought an additional 7 per cent equity stake in Fame in open market, taking its stake to 51 per cent.

While Reliance MediaWorks made a Rs180 crore open offer to acquire additional shares in Fame India at Rs83.40 per share, to raise its holding to 52.72 per cent, Inox Leisure made an offer for an additional 20 per cent at Rs51 per share.

The Fame India scrip was down 1.43 per cent at Rs82.50, on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) against its previous close at Rs83.70.