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FUNASIA FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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1. Q: What is Pyramid Saimira?A: Publicly traded (NSI: PSTL) (MUMBAI: 532791) (SGX: XS0306488890) and based in Chennai, India, Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd. at present operates 44 multiplexes with 703 screens across India, Malaysia, Singapore, and North America. By 2010, the company plans to operate 175 multiplexes with 2,000 screens in India alone. By its own estimates, Pyramid Saimira ranks as the world’s third-largest cinema operator based on its number of seats and admissions with nearly 435,000 seats as of October 2007. Admissions for the period between July and October 2007 were approximately 53 million. It also owns 50 percent of a joint venture, Pyramid Saimira Malaysia (Sdn) Bhd with Asian Integrated Industries Sdn Bhd.
Pyramid Saimira has formed a North American unit, Pyramid Saimira Entertainment America, Inc., which is based in Richardson, Texas, with an office in Los Angeles, for the purpose of acquiring the FunAsiA multimedia entertainment concept and expanding it rapidly to major cities in the United States and Canada. Advertisers interested in one multimedia stop to reach the South Asian market in North America should e-mail Reach@FunAsiA.net.
Other PSTL business units include Pyramid Saimira Theater Chain (M) Sdn. Bhd (PSTC), Malaysia; Pyramid Saimira Productions Ltd. (PSPL); Pyramid Saimira Entertainment Ltd., Singapore (PSEL); and Saimira Realty Pvt. Ltd. More information is available at www.FunAsiA.net and www.pstl.in.
2. Q: What are Pyramid Saimira’s other business ventures? A: The company’s units include:
§ Pyramid Saimira Theater Chain (M) SDN.BHD (PSTC), Malaysia Operates in Malaysia and Singapore and. also produces Malay, Chinese, and Tamil films. It distributes VCDs and DVDs of various languages in Malaysia. PSTC is the second-largest theatre chain in Malaysia and plans to become a major entertainment chain in Malaysia and Singapore. § Pyramid Saimira Productions Ltd. (PSPL) Produces films and TV programming. Plans to produce more than 100 films in 2008 in multiple South Asian languages with a budget exceeding INR$5 billion (approximately US$127 million). Also plans to produce more than 16 hours of original daily TV programming to become India’s largest TV production house. § Pyramid Saimira Entertainment Ltd., Singapore (PSEL) Singapore-based, it is a content aggregator and worldwide film/TV distributor via satellite, theaters, DVD, and other technologies. Its goal is to capitalize on the growing strength of PSPL production presence in the Asia/Pacific region. § Saimira Realty Pvt. Ltd. Acquires and operates real properties for other PSTL business units; plans to acquire more than 100 properties in South India.
3. Q: What is FunAsiA?A: Founded in September 2002, and based in Richardson Texas, FunAsiA is a unique entertainment concept that blends movie theaters, restaurants, a dance floor, banquet halls and a community events center that cater to South Asians—a multimedia venue for ethnic and mainstream marketers trying to reach the affluent South Asia community. As of 10/30/07, FunAsiA operated theater-entertainment complexes in the suburban Dallas cities of Irving and Richardson, and two in Houston, along with FunAsiA radio, KHSE-AM 700, which is broadcast over the entire Dallas/Fort Worth area and simultaneously streamed over the Internet. The company also publishes DesiPages, a glossy, thick monthly magazine in its sixth year of publication. As of 10/30/07, 15,000 copies of DesiPages were distributed free throughout South Asian communities in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. The FunAsiA name will be used to expand the entertainment venues and multimedia outlets rapidly throughout the United States and Canada. Advertisers interested in one multimedia stop to reach the South Asian market in North America should e-mail Reach@FunAsiA.net. More information is available at www.FunAsiA.net.
4. Q. What are the terms of the FunAsiA acquisition?A: Pyramid Saimira has not disclosed the terms of the cash deal.
5. Q: Who is FunAsiA’s top management?A: Mr. Saminathan P. Subramanian, Managing Director, based in Chennai, India Ms. Shabnam Modgil, SVP, Editor of DesiPages, based in Richardson Dr. Farrukh, John, and Shariq Hamid, Executive Consultants, based in Richardson
6. Q: Where are existing FunAsiA multimedia complexes located?A: FunAsiA 7703 W. Bellfort Ave. Houston TX 77081
Bollywood Cinema 6 2703 Hwy. 6 South Houston TX 77082
FunAsiA 1625 W. Story Rd. Suite 100 Irving TX 75061
FunAsiA 1210 E. Beltline Rd. Richardson TX 75081
Bloomingdale Court Theater (soon to be FunAsiA): 324 West Army Trail Road Bloomingdale IL 60108
Lincoln Village Theater, Devon Chicago:
FunAsiA P&G Montgomery Mall Cinema:
7. Q: Why did Pyramid choose to enter North America via FunAsiA?A: The FunAsiA concept is uniquely suited to South Asians in North America, who comprise persons of Indian, Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan descent. It offers them a place for their community events, like weddings, receptions, concerts, televised cricket matches, plus the type of films that appeal to them, and additional media, such as radio and print, that cater to their tastes in entertainment. In a culture of arranged marriages, FunAsiA provides a video conference service popular between men and women who may be thousands of miles apart but want to get to know each other better without revealing contact or other sensitive personal information.
8. Q: In which other North American cities will the FunAsiA concept be introduced?A: While it is premature to announce other cities, areas of the U.S. and Canada with large South Asian communities include: Toronto, San Francisco Bay area, Virginia/Washington D.C., Atlanta, Boston, New York City area, Seattle, and Los Angeles. 9. Q: In what South Asian languages will movies be shown at FunAsiAcinemas?A: Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu, primarily as well as Gujarati and Kannada. Most have English subtitles.
10. Q: Will FunAsiA screen films that are not produced by Pyramid Saimira?A: Yes. FunAsiA welcomes all films of interest to South Asians and aggressively bids for exhibition rights. In fact, it will be showing two films in November that did not originate with Pyramid Saimira but are extremely important to South Asians everywhere. One will open on the Nov. 9th Diwali holiday and is titled “Om Shanti Om.” The other is the Nov. 21st North American debut of the surprise worldwide blockbuster, “Khudu Ke Leya” (“For God’s Sake”) of which FunAsiA will be the sole distributor in North America. 11. Q: What are the demographics of South Asians in North America?A: According to Statistics Canada (based on 2001 findings), South Asians in Canada: § Are the country’s largest non-European ethnic group, comprising 3.2 percent of the country’s total population, or 963,200 persons. § Are growing fast as a demographic presence. Between 1996 and 2001, the number of South Asians in Canada rose 33 percent vs. 4 percent growth for the Canadian population overall. § Tend to be younger, with 25 percent of the South Asian population in Canada under the age of 15 compared with 19 percent of Canadians overall. § Are well educated. In 2001, 25 percent of South Asians in Canada aged 15 and older had a college and/or graduate degree vs. 15 percent of the adult population in Canada as a whole. § Tend to be foreign born. In 2001, 68 percent of South Asians in Canada were born outside the country vs. 18 percent of the population at large.
South Asians can be defined as Asian/(East) Indians, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, and Sri Lankans. In the 2001 census, 74 percent of South Asians in Canada reported they were of Indian origin, with the rest coming from the other countries.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (based on 2000 findings), South Asians in the United States: § Exceed 2.1 million, making them the sixth-largest U.S. ethnic group. § Are growing very fast as a group, more than doubling in size between 1990 and 2000. § Are well educated, with 64 percent of Indians in the United States holding at least a bachelor’s degree vs. 24 percent of the overall population. § Are affluent; median household income for Indians in the U.S. is nearly $64,000, 50 percent higher than the overall population’s median household income (Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia). § Tend, in the United States, to be successful technology entrepreneurs, physicians and healthcare providers, small business owners, or top corporate executives (Merrill Lynch & Co.)
12. Q: What does FunAsiA offer advertisers and marketers?A: FunAsiA is a dream come true for both ethnic and mainstream marketers interested in reaching an affluent, well-educated population segment that is too often overlooked. All in one place, FunAsiA provides an array of media options—broadcast, in-theater signage, online, on-screen (before movies and during intermission) and print—as well as multinational, national, regional, and local coverage choices. Any luxury product or service marketer, such as automobile companies, cruise lines, or high-end technology makers, who want to reach well-heeled, technologically savvy and mobile consumers should be buying FunAsiA. Marketers interested in more information can e-mail: Reach@FunAsiA.net.
13. Q: What is the FunAsiA’s North American expansion timeline and how much money is it prepared to invest in theater acquisitions and upgrades? A: Without being explicit, the expansion is aggressive, the goal being FunAsiA multimedia entertainment complexes in every major U.S. and Canadian city with a strong South Asian population within a short timeframe. The company has not specifically disclosed how much money it plans to invest in its North American operations. In July 2007, the parent company issued foreign currency convertible bonds worth $90 million USD for the purpose of “overseas investments.” The bonds are traded on the Singapore stock exchange (SGX: XS0306488890).
14. Q: What are some of the changes that Pyramid Saimira plans to make to the FunAsiA concept? A: Changes that will take place under FunAsiA’s new owners include: § Rapid expansion of FunAsiA concept to major North American markets beyond current Texas operations in Houston, Irving, and Richardson. § Convert all existing and acquired movie theaters to completely digital screening equipment, which will make FunAsiA theaters state-of-the-art and more technologically advanced than most North American movie chains. § Expand the DesiPages monthly magazine to each new market, enabling advertisers to target South Asians on a national, regional, or market-by-market basis. § Acquire radio programming hours in each new market to complement the FunAsiA print and in-theater outreach. § Make the video conferencing service available at every FunAsiA entertainment complex in North America. § Evolve the FunAsiA concept to target new ethnic groups.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA CONTACTPurvi Shah
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©2003 FunAsiA All rights reserved. This information is copyrighted and not authorized for reproduction | ||||||