Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advises PVR Ltd. on sale of its stake in PVR BluO Entertainment to Smaaash Entertainment

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co ('SAM & Co') advised PVR Limited ('PVR') on sale of 100 percent shareholding in the arcade games joint venture company PVR BluO Entertainment ('PVR BluO') to Smaaash Entertainment ('Smaaash') for approximately Rs. 86 crore. PVR owns 51 percent in PVR BluO, while Thailand's Major Cineplex Group owns the rest.

PVR BluO currently operates six indoor and outdoor gaming centers across India with two additional centres expected to open shortly. The sale is part of PVR's strategy to sell non-core assets and focus on its main cinema exhibition business.

The Mergers & Acquisitions Group of SAM & Co's General Corporate Practice acted as the legal advisor for PVR and was involved in drafting and negotiating all transaction documents and for providing general corporate advisory on the deal. The transaction team was led by Akila Agrawal, Partner; and included Sourav Kanti De Biswas, Partner and Sanchit Garg, Associate.

The parties involved in the transaction were PVR (Client), Major Cineplex and Smaaash (The Counter Party).

Other Advisors to the transaction were ANM Global Inc. (legal advisor for Smaaash) and EY (financial and tax advisor for PVR and Major Cineplex)

The deal was signed on August 8, 2017 and is expected to close in approximately 15-20 days.