MUMBAI: Compact Disc India will be investing a corpus of $10 million in setting up an animation studio in Vietnam.

Speaking to Businessofcinema.com, Compact Disc India chairman and managing director Suresh Kumar says, "We are planning to invest $10 million in setting up an animation studio in Vietnam as it is the fastest emerging market in the Asian region. Moreover labour is cheap there and technical expertise is also available. The animation studio we are setting up will primarily cater to movies from the far-East like China etc."

The $10 million fund is a part of the debt offered by iMedia Ventures. This debt has been offered at 2.5 per cent per annum over LIBOR inclusive of withholding tax or other applicable taxes for a period of 10 years.

The Vietnam studio will be Compact Disc India’s first fully owned studio in the overseas. It already has studios in partnership in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. In India, CDI is in the process of setting up a Rs 503.8 million animation studio in a special economic zone (SEZ) in Kerala and one in Chandigarh with an investment of Rs 585.6 million.

On the other hand, iMedia Ventures is planning to pick up a 15 per cent equity stake in Compact Disc India at Rs 100 per share. However, Kumar informs that negotiations were still on and the company was looking at a price of Rs 150 per share. "We should soon reach a decision on the 15 per cent stake acquisition by iMedia Ventures. Currently negotiations are going on and we will be happy with anywhere between Rs 100 – 150," says Kum