Mumbai-headquartered digital cinema distribution firm - UFO Moviez India, promoted by the Valuable Group, is scouting opportunities for acquisitions in the domestic as well as overseas markets, particularly Europe.

UFO plans to acquire companies complementing its current digital infrastructure business.

“We are always open to acquisitions as they are the fastest way to grow. Our team is constantly working on deals that can help us enhance our market share,” Mr Pankaj Jaysinh, Chief Operating Officer (CEO), UFO, said.

With about 2,800 digital cinema installations across the country, UFO, at present, has nearly 28 per cent market share in the category. It plans to add 300 more screens by the end of this fiscal.

Scrabble Stake

UFO Moviez recently acquired a 26 per cent stake in Scrabble Entertainment Ltd thereby gaining a controlling stake of 52 per cent. The company plans to enhance its stake further in Scrabble to 80 per cent, Mr Jaysinh said.

“We will take a call on further enhancing our stake in Scrabble by March 2012. This will help shore up our margins. This will be primarily funded through internal accruals,” he added.

According to him, Scrabble's acquisition will help UFO tap West Asian and Latin American markets. On the international front, Scrabble is already rolling out Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) compliant screens in West Asian and East European markets.

The company has executed contracts with all major exhibitors in these countries for over 500 screens and expects to deploy over 1,000 DCI screens by December 2012, he said.

Scrabble, which has around 400 DCI compliant screens in India, plans to add another 800 such screens by December 2012.

shobha@thehindu.co.in

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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