New Delhi-based multiplex operator Satyam Cineplexes will raise Rs 50 crore through a fresh round of private equity (PE) funding by October. The company will utilise the fund to expand outside Delhi, where it has a strong presence.
Satyam plans to set up 70 new screens. Investments in these will be made over 18 months, utilising the PE fund. In 2009, it raised Rs 50 crore from IFCI as the first round of PE funding.
Deven Chachra, MD, Satyam Cineplexes, said: ?The construction cost at any of these sites ranges between Rs 2 crore and Rs 2.5 crore per screen. Every year, we want to add 25-30 new screens.?
Chachara did not disclose the names of the PE players. Satyam Cineplexes, which opened its first multiplex in 2003, plans to launch an IPO by 2012. ?It would be the right time for a public offering. We have to allow exit to investors in the company,? he said.
The chain will invest Rs 40 crore by December to expand from 17 screens to 32. With rapid plans to expand outside Delhi, it will be opening multiplexes in Mysore, Aurangabad, Rohtak, Jodhpur and Udaipur by year end. Satyam has 12 screens in Delhi and five in Indore.
?After investing Rs 40 crore in 2010, we will invest Rs 60-70 crore every year for the next two-to-three years. The amount will be raised through private equity, internal accruals and debt,? he added.