UFO Moviez India, world's largest satellite-delivered digital cinema network promoted by the Valuable Group, has committed an investment of Rs.200 crore to fuel its growth and expansion plans in India. This will be through Scrabble Entertainment (Pvt) Limited, in which UFO Moviez recently acquired a controlling stake. The international roll-out plans of Scrabble Entertainment will entail a capex of $150 million to be funded by way of international debt and further equity infusion by UFO Moviez.
Kapil Agarwal, Joint Managing Director, UFO Moviez, said, “The UFO-Scrabble combine is the only alliance in the world that offers non-DCI satellite-based digital cinema solutions as well as DCI-compliant solutions with VPF (Virtual Print Fee) deals to the global and Indian film industry.
Scrabble Entertainment was promoted by Sunil Patil and Ranjit Thakur and is the only aggregator in India which has Virtual Print Fee rights from Hollywood studios for providing DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives) compliant solutions. It has already signed VPF deals with Hollywood studios and is now ready to go global in ten countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It is also looking at expanding its footprint in Latin America and expects to install around 2,000 screens internationally in the next two years, out of which deals for over 600 screens in the Middle East have already been finalised.
UFO Moviez India acquired a majority stake of 52 per cent in Scrabble Entertainment and thereafter Mr. Sunil Patil and Ranjit Thakur bought 27 per cent stake totally and the balance equity is held by Walkwater Media Ltd., owned by Manmohan Shetty. In the domestic market, the UFO-Scrabble combine will now increase the number of DCI-compliant cinemas from 300 (that Scrabble has presently installed in around 30 major cities since its inception in 2007) to 800 (single screens as well as multiplexes) within six months.
