Inox soars 20% on stake sale report, RMW issues denial

Shares of Inox Leisure today surged 20 per cent on media reports that Reliance MediaWorks is interested in acquiring a 67 per cent stake in the multiplex operator, which the Anil Ambani-led firm has denied.

"We... Deny any discussions by Reliance MediaWorks (RMW) or any offer by us to acquire any controlling stake in Inox Leisure Ltd," an ADAG spokesperson said.

Shares of Inox Ltd soared 20 per cent to hit the upper circuit at Rs 86.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. Later on, Inox shares were being quoted at Rs 80.35, 11.67 per cent up, at 2.22 pm.

According to a media report, Reliance MediaWorks has offered to buy a majority stake in Inox Leisure in an attempt to end the tussle between the two companies over a smaller cinema chain operator, Fame India.
    
According to the report, the Anil Ambani group company has offered to buy a 67 per cent stake in Inox for Rs 120 per share, valuing the company at a little over Rs 740 crore.
    
Reliance MediaWorks and Inox have been battling for months over another multiplex operator, Fame India. Both have offered to buy out minority shareholders' stakes, though the rival offers are yet to be cleared by the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
    
Inox already owns 51 per cent of Fame. However, Reliance MediaWorks has bitterly contested Inox's acquisition of a majority stake in Fame India on the ground that a higher bid from it was wrongly rejected.
    
It has complained to Sebi about a transaction in which the promoters of Fame sold a 43.5 per cent stake to Inox at a price lower than what it had offered.
    
Shares of Reliance MediaWorks were trading at Rs 212.15 on the BSE today, up 2.76 per cent.