Chinese conglomerate leads race for Sahara hotels

Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy has lined up four other buyers for a mortgage-cum-sale deal for his three iconic hotels in New York and London and sought another 15 working days from the Supreme Court to raise the Rs 10,000 crore required for his regular bail.

According to a source close to the development, the four buyers in the race include a cash-rich Chinese infrastructure and real estate conglomerate which has emerged as the front-runner, a Geneva-based firm, a business entity in New York and a Middle East princeling.

The names of the entities cannot be disclosed as they have signed non-disclosure agreements, the source added. The Sultan of Brunei is still reported to be interested in the deal despite the strong protests against him by gay activists outside the trophy hotels in New York.

Appearing before the Supreme Court (SC) Bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur on Friday, Roy's counsel submitted that there have been huge protests outside the hotels after an international newspaper published the story that the Sultan is buying the properties.

"A very serious problem has cropped up in the last three days after the paper reported that the Sultan of Brunei is buying the properties," senior advocate S. Ganesh said.

Following this, there have been very violent protests outside the hotels and the buyers are reconsidering a deal which is now on the verge of being scrapped, Ganesh told the court.

He urged the court to grant Roy another 15 working days to hold negotiations to save the deal or to talk with the four other buyers.

"It is a very unfortunate incident and it is a setback for us. It is beyond our control," Ganesh said asking the Bench to consider his plea for extending the time limit on Monday. The court said that it will take up his plea if it is possible for the special Bench hearing his case to assemble on that day.

The SC had on August 1 allowed Roy and two directors of his group to use the conference room in Tihar Jail complex for 10 days from August 5 to hold negotiations with potential buyers for the hotels- Dream Downtown and The Plaza in New York and Grosvenor House in London.

Facilities such as computers and assistants have been provided for his use. The time period was further extended for 15 days on August 14. Sahara would prefer to mortgage its iconic overseas hotels rather than go in for an outright sale to raise Rs 10,000 crore, which has to be deposited with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Roy has been trying to find a buyer for the past month.