Qatar to acquire Sahara's Grosvenor House

Inks deal with Russian lender VTB Bank for refinancing stakes in New York hotels

The Sahara group told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it had entered into an agreement to sell its interests in London’s Grosvenor House hotel (pictured) to ‘the state of Qatar’. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal submitted a sealed cover, which also included the details of another deal with Russian lender VTB Bank for refinancing the loans linked to the group’s stakes in New York’s Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels.

The deals are likely to generate between Rs 2,200-2,300 crore additional funds for the group, which could be deposited with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Sibal told the court. The money is expected in 30-40 working days, according to the group.

The group also submitted an application to divest its stake in more assets. Sibal said Sahara wanted to sell the Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai, its 42 per cent stake in Force India Formula One Team and four aircraft. These assets would fetch a further Rs 3,000 crore, according to the group.

Amicus Curiae Shekar Naphade raised questions about the deals almost immediately. “My only problem is about the valuation of these assets. Who has valued these assets?” The court has asked the Amicus to look into the various aspects of the deals. In a statement issued later in the day, Gautam Awasthi, counsel for Sahara, said, “In view of the current situation, whereby Sahara has been able to formalise deals with regard to three foreign properties, the culmination whereof will make Rs 2,200-2,300 crore being available to be deposited with Sebi.” Other assets proposed to be sold would fetch another Rs 3,000 crore, he added.

The proposals gave fresh hope for the group, which is contesting an application by Sebi to appoint a receiver to realise dues, which have now swelled to Rs 40,000 crore. The court posted the final hearing on Sebi’s receivership petition and the group’s challenge to last year’s order by the court to March 29.

However, those were not good enough to get the group’s jailed chief Subrata Roy a fresh term in special conference room facilities inside the Tihar Jail.

“Nothing is getting finalised. All that has happened is that a book has appeared,” Chief Justice T S Thakur said referring to lavish events organised across the country to launch a trilogy of books purportedly written by Roy during his 23-month stay in the jail. Many of these months were spent in the conference room inside the prison complex allowed by the court to finalise a deal to sell the group’s various assets in India and abroad.

The apex court had sent Roy and two other directors of the group’s companies Sahara India Real Estate Corp and Sahara Housing Invest Corp for failing to repay Rs 24,029 crore to some 29.6 million investors, along with an interest of 15 per cent. As Sahara has struggled to comply with the directions of the court, which date back to August 2012, having coughed up only Rs 5,120 crore, the interest component has been steadily rising, taking the dues to around Rs 40,000 crore.

For Roy’s release, the court had initially set a sum of Rs 10,000 crore as bail amount, half in cash and half in bank guarantee. However, in June last year, it linked his release to payment of full dues.

Meanwhile, the group’s troubles with its domestic deals continued as the court refused to entertain a deferred payment proposal by Divine Infra Solutions, which had agreed to buy a property in Choma, near Gurgaon. Out of the Rs 1,200-crore deal for land totalling 185 acres, Divine has paid Rs 498 crore, but has developed cold feet. The company has alleged though it has received titles for 67 acres, Sahara has not been able to provide contiguous land for the remaining portion. The court directed Divine’s executives to be present at the next hearing.

The court also allowed Sebi the reimbursement of Rs 41.44 crore incurred for sorting and digitisation of truckloads of investment receipts and other documents sent by the Sahara group.