Shares of Ranbir Kapoor-backed Prime Focus one of the primary production houses for upcoming Ramayana movie, surged 10% on Monday after marquee investors including Ramesh Damani, Madhu Kela-owned Singularity AMC, Utpal Sheth, and others acquired a stake 3.3 percent stake in the company Rs 146.2 crore. At 11.30am today the stock was trading at 174.20. On Friday, shares of Prime Focus ended locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 158.37. According to the data, Madhusudan Kela and son Yash Kela -owned Singularity Large Value Fund I, II, and III have picked up 62.5 lakh shares (2 per cent stake) at Rs 142.55 per share worth Rs 89.10 crore. At the same price, Ramesh Damani too has picked up 8 lakh shares worth Rs 11.40 crore, while Utpal Sheth has bought 17.5 lakh shares value at Rs 24.95 crore.
Prime Focus shares gathered investors' attention in July this year after the release of the much-anticipated teaser of the movie 'Ramayana'. Ranbir Kapoor invested Rs 15-20 crore in the Prime Focus Studio, according to multiple reports. The company earlier had approved a preferential issue of over 46 crore shares. Actor Ranbir Kapoor was one of the proposed allotees, who aimed to acquire 12.5 lakh shares of the company. In addition, FE Securities and Samyak Enterprises each have purchased 14.55 lakh shares.
Two major funds exited in the block deal, with Singapore-based Marina IV fund selling 48.06 lakh shares or 1.55 percent stakewhile Augusta Investments I fund sold 54.48 lakh shares which is 1.75 percent stake. Buyers Ramesh Damani, Utpal Sheth and Madhusudan Kela's AMC did not have exposure to Prime Focus, according to the June shareholding data shared by the company.On September 8, the shares have clocked a combined volume of over one crore shares which is 4x the one-month average. Prime Focus shares had rallied on Friday as well, hitting the 10 percent upper circuit. In the last one week, the shares of Prime Focus are higher by 23 percent, and up 50 percent over last three months.
Founded by Namit Malhotra in 1997 in a Mumbai garage, Prime Focus expanded globally with the acquisition of UK-based visual effects house Double Negative (DNEG) in 2014. DNEG has since won multiple Academy Awards, including for TENET, Dune: Part One, and Dune: Part Two, bringing its Oscar tally to eight. Prime Focus today is known for its visual effects, animation, production, and post-production capabilities.As of June 30, Namit Malhotra held 1.49 crore shares, equivalent to a 4.81 per cent stake, based on NSE shareholding data.