Indian VFX studio PhantomFX recently entered the SME IPO to sell its shares to the public for the first time and get listed in the NSE-Emerge platform. PhantomFX, which had been making strides in India’s fast growing animated and VFX industry with its stunning visual effects for a host of feature films, TV shows and commercials, across the world, proposed to raise Rs 29 crore through the IPO.
In an official statement they mentioned that the ‘Listing Certificate’ was handed over to the company’s board of directors at an impressive IPO Listing Ceremony held here on Friday morning. PhantomFX is the first south Indian company to enter the SME IPO. A host of guests, representing the clientele base, including film directors and cinematographers were present at the ceremony.
“The response has been tremendous ever since the company announced its decision to enter the SME IPO, a few months ago and received a whopping 1.7 lakh applications for buying the shares,” said PhantomFx chief financial officer Rajinikanth.
Phantom Digital Effects IPO is a SME IPO of 3,063,600 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 aggregating up to Rs 29.10 crores. This issue is priced at Rs 91 to Rs 95 per share. The IPO opened on 12 October 2022 and closed on 14 October 2022. PhantomFX has received 1.7 lakh applications for Rs 29 crore, which is phenomenal.
He further mentioned that the promoters would hold 65 per cent of the shares and the remaining 35 per cent would be with the public. The money raised through the public issue would be invested into the expansion projects.
“This is only the beginning. The company has set up an ambitious plan to enter NASDAQ, the American stock exchange after achieving 2,000 plus placements in the next three years,” Rajinikanth said.
“This day marks an important milestone in the company’s endeavor to scale greater heights. The response to the IPO is tremendous. This has increased our responsibility to live up to the expectations of the public and our trusted clients,” said PhantomFx founder, MD and CEO Bejoy Arputharaj.
He revealed that PhantomFx is gearing up to take full advantage and position itself as a premier VFX company globally. The company plans to set up high end digital studios in Cochin and Hyderabad and expand its existing facilities in Chennai and Mumbai in a big way. “The Mumbai studio is set for inauguration on 1 December this year. We have already recruited about 250 people,” he said.
Their Cochin and Hyderabad studios would be ready for operation by March next year. The company has also decided to expand its present digital studio located at Ambattur, a Chennai suburb and set up digital studios in tier II cities like Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
“PhantomFx, a Trusted Partner Network (TPN) company, is planning to spread its wings overseas by setting up high-end digital studios to become a global industry leader in the next couple of years. Plans are afoot to establish world class digital studios at Vancouver and Montreal in Canada, Log Angeles and Delaware in the US, United Kingdom and Dubai. “We are also ambitious to explore other potential offshore markets investing about one million US dollars,” the CEO shared.
PhantomFx has made it big in a host of Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood films. The company has created visual effects for Tamil and Telugu movies, which included Vijay’s Beast, Kamal Hassan’s Vikram, Rajamouli’s epic and action drama RRR and Suriya’s Jai Bhim. The company has also provided stunning visual effects to an array of Hollywood and Bollywood movies.
“We support production houses by providing end to end services. Our complete package of visual effects does miracles to bring one’s vision to reality, be it set extensions or creating creatures crawling in the backyard. We are capable of creating surreal worlds, breathing life into fantasy and myths,” said PhantomFx director and COO Binu Joshua Sam.
The company is catering to its clients in Hollywood through its administrative office in Los Angeles.