Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Osian`s sells 9.4% stake to PE firm

Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art has signed an agreement to sell an approximately 9.4 per cent stake to Abraaj Capital, Dubai-based private equity firm, for Rs 80 crore. Osian’s valuation, going by this transaction, is Rs 840 crore. Arif Masood Naqvi, vice chairman and group chief executive officer of Abraaj, will join the Osian’s board.

Starting with its first auction in 2000, Osian’s, founded by Neville Tuli, has grown into a unique private-sector art institution straddling various sectors of art, films and lately, sports. There is Osian’s archive of visual and textual material which includes rare etchings, lithographs, maps of India, British Indian photography, popular art, cinema publicity material.

In 2004, Osian’s acquired film journal Cinemaya, and took over the organising of Cinefan, the film festival.Having acquired Minerva theatre in Mumbai in 2006, where it is building Osianama, a museum for cinema and the arts, the company has also ventured into film production.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

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