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UTV Group CEO and Ronnie Screwvala claimed that the fund will
have a targeted corpus of US$ 25 million. Initially, US$ 5 Million
will be raised by the first quarter of 2003.
UTV officials claim that the fund is directed at those individuals
and entities, who are looking at investing in the motion picture
space in India. These prospective investors include high net worth
individuals, in India and globally; VCC and private equity funds;
overseas filmfunds and banking institutions and corporates making
forays into the industry.
The fund will allow prospective investors, who are looking for
transparency and a relatively de-risked model plus, to hedge their
interests amongst multiple projects. The existing funds invite people
to invest in a specific movie, rather than on a 'project to project'
basis.
UTV officials also claim the fund will be the first fund of its
kind because of its carefully designed structure; not as a private
company attracting equity investment. It will also be registered
with the relevant security and exchange bodies.
UTV, which began as a TV commercial and corporate film producer,
has been building its core competencies in motion picture production
over the past three to four years.
It has distributed close to 14 movies, and co-produced one movie
in the past two and a half years. 11 of the 14 have been hits. These
include titles like Lagaan, Sarfarosh, Mission Kashmir, Hera
Pheri and many others.
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