Tendulkar-backed sports entertainment firm raises ₹280 cr
MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkarbacked sports-based entertainment company Smaaash Entertainment Pvt Ltd has raised ₹280 crore ($44 million) through debt and equity as the company looks to expand business, said two people aware of the development.
Smaaash owns and operates sports-centric digital entertainment centres for games such as cricket, football, go-karting, bowling and a host of virtual games in cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Bengaluru.
Smaaash was started by Shripal Morakhia in 2012 with its first centre of over 40,000 sq ft in Mumbai. Morakhia was also founder of brokerage company Sharekhan.
“The company has raised ₹280 crore through a mix of debt and equity in a new round of fundraise. ECL Finance, the nonbanking finance company of Edelweiss Group, has invested ₹258 crore through debt, while the promoters have invested ₹22 crore through equity in this round,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity as the talks are private.
Funds will be used for overseas expansion of the business and for acquisitions, the person said.
“On the international side, Smaaash has been looking to set up centres in the US and in the Middle East. They already have one centre in the US. They have been looking at cities such as Dubai and Jeddah in the Middle East,” he added.
A spokesperson for Smaaash declined to comment on the development. ECL Finance too declined to comment.
This is not the first round of institutional fund-raising for Smaaash.
In 2014, it raised ₹65 crore from sports-focused investment firm Fidelisworld, which invested through its first fund FW Sports Investment Fund LP.
In August 2016, Mint reported that the firm had raised ₹150 crore from Piramal Enterprises Ltd’s Structured Financing Group.
Smaaash reported a revenue of ₹58.41 crore in 2015-16, compared with ₹44.6 crore in the previous year, according to data from the registrar of companies.
The company reported a loss of ₹24.7 crore in 2015-16, as against a loss of ₹18.2 crore the previous year, data shows.