PVR Cinemas will acquire a 2% stake in Americam luxury movie theatre chain iPic Gold Class Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In its first investment in a foreign company, PVR will invest $4 million (around Rs 2.6 crore) in the Washington-headquartered theatre chain. The deal was announced to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Nitin Sood, PVR’s Chief Financial Officer, told The Hollywood Reporter that the objective of this investment is “to draw learnings from iPic about luxury cinemas and apply that to India.” PVR Cinemas has said that iPic has agreed to appoint PVR chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli to its board.

iPic owns and operates 16 theatres with 121 screens across 10 American states, and also runs a casual restaurant and a bar. “iPic’s multi-faceted guest experience of dining, drinking and watching a movie in a luxurious setting, supported by ever changing Hollywood movies and other non-traditional content (such as concerts and eGaming) has helped to create a differentiated brand,” PVR said in a statement.

PVR began as a joint venture between Bijli’s Priya Exhibitors and Australian theatre chain Village Roadshow, which launched India’s first multiplex in 1997 in New Delhi. However, Village Roadshow sold its stake in 2002. This January, United States private equity firm Warburg Pincus invested about $120 million in PVR cinemas, acquiring a stake of approximately 14% in the company.