Pyramid Saimira to enter US, Canada markets

3 November 2007:

Entertainment major Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd has completed the acquisition of an US-based company and is on the way to setting up as many as 60 screens in the US and Canada by the end of fiscal 2007. This acquisition takes the total number screens under the Company's banner to 703 globally.

The company has acquired Texas-based FunAsia through its subsidiary Pyramid Saimira Entertainment America, Inc and will be based out of Richardson, Texas. It added that Pyramid Saimira Theatre also acquired an existing theatre and radio drive-time hours in Chicago and radio time in Houston.

The company already has operations through local subsidiaries in Malaysia and Singapore. With the entry into the US markets, the Pyramid Saimira Group will now have exhibition presence across the globe especially where an Indian population has significant presence. Pyramid Saimira’s also plans to set up Video Booths at FunAsia complexes in Chicago, Texas and elsewhere as the expansion proceeds, said a report.

The realization that South Asians in the US exceed 2.1 million in number seems to have prompted this significant foray. According to an industry news source, FunAsia complexes include a total of 17 screens with 4,765 seats. The Chicago complex that has been added by, Pyramid Saimira Entertainment America, Inc., will have six screens with a seating capacity of 1,763 in Texas.

Significantly enough, the Texas-based FunAsia runs Bollywood theatres in Irving and Richardson, and also at two multiplexes in Houston. FunAsia also provides food courts, banquet halls, and additional modes at mass media, such as a radio channel and a community magazine. This would be what Pyramid Saimira would also be looking from now on as it aims at a foothold in the US and Canada markets.