Brands
Sports & experiential ent.: PVR & Major sell bluO to Smaaash for Rs 860 mn
MUMBAI: PVR Ltd today announced that it has entered into definitive agreement with Smaaash Entertainment (‘SMAAASH’) to sell its stake in bluO entertainment, a premium bowling and entertainment format operated by the company.
As part of its national expansion plans, world class gaming and entertainment company Smaaash Entertainment has acquired 100 per cent stake in bluO entertainment (a premium bowling and entertainment format), for a consideration of approximately Rs. 860 million.
bluO is a joint venture between PVR Limited and Major Cineplex Group of Thailand in which PVR owns 51 per cent stake with balance 49 per cent stake held by Major Group. The acquisition marks the doubling of the area under Smaaash management from 276,000 square feet to approximately around 600,000 square feet in India.
The significant acquisition also adds six centres (approximately 210,000 sq. ft. of premium space) across five cities to Smaaash’s existing blueprint of seven centres in India and one in Minneapolis in the United States. The newly acquired centres will operate under Smaaash branding and two more centres are expected to open shortly. Smaaash will introduce its signature games at all bluO centres, which only had bowling before.
PVR chairman & MD Ajay Bijli said, “The sale of bluO is in line with our strategy to divest all non-core assets and focus on our core cinema exhibition business. It is also reflective of the value embedded in our core assets and demonstrates our commitment to increase shareholder value and provide management a more focused approach for enhancing value in exhibition business. We are pleased to sell the business to Smaaash, which is a leader in retail and entertainment space in India and the US; and believe that they will take the business to even greater heights.”
Smaaash Entertainment chairman & CIO Shripal Morakhia said, “The strategic acquisition of bluO is a significant step in doubling Smaaash’s scale and outreach in India’s fast growing retail entertainment space. The synergies between both brands are deeply symbiotic in creating a network of centers in key cities that are designed as destinations with a relentless focus on wholesome sports, active life, and adventure for urban citizens. We are sure that bluO’s premium locations, infrastructure and F&B offerings, coupled with Smaaash leadership in innovation with new technology and virtual reality, will fill a much-needed gap for experiential entertainment in our country. We are committed to enhancing profitability and revenue per centre while being the custodian of customer smiles in these centres.”
The acquisition comes on the heels of Smaaash’s recent international success story in the Mall of America, Minneapolis, United States.
EY acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of PVR bluO for the transaction.
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
