Suitors are aplenty for Sahara group’s 30 domestic properties. The group, which is mired in a legal battle with Sebi, has received more than 250 expressions of interest (EoIs) for the auction of 30 properties across India being conducted by Knight Frank India, sources said.
Besides corporate houses Tatas, Godrej and Adani, which are believed to have put in their expression of interest, FMCG giant Patanjali is also said to be keen. Other names doing the rounds are real estate developers Omaxe and Eldeco, besides some PSUs. None of this, however, could be independently verified.
Sources also said talks are under way for sale of three foreign hotels — Plaza and Dream Downtown in New York and Grosvenor House in London.
A New York Post report said that Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal has partnered with Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp, which owns several properties in New York, for the buyout of Sahara’s stake in the Plaza Hotel. PTI quoting a Sahara group spokesperson said, “No such deal is on table for the Plaza.”
The spokesperson said all the three hotels are “cross-collaterised so only Plaza can not be sold.”
On reports about Sahara group’s luxurious Aamby Valley resort township being valued at just about Rs 43,000 crore, the group said the enterprise value is “definitely above Rs 1 lakh crore” and it is the “circle rate which is coming to around Rs 43,000 crore.”
On status of the auction for 30 domestic properties, the spokesperson said, “Final bids for 30 properties are in process. It is quite early, so we can’t comment anything at this stage. And moreover, it is being dealt by Knight Frank India.”
The group is focused on raising funds to be deposited with the markets regulator Sebi as per the Supreme Court orders.
Sahara chief Subrata Roy last month appeared before the Supreme Court which extended his parole till June 19 with a warning that failure to pay Rs 1,500 crore, as promised, may again land him in jail. This followed an affidavit and a personal undertaking of Roy that he will pay Rs 1,500 crore on or before June 15 and Rs 552.22 crore exactly a month thereafter. Sahara group claims to have already repaid more than 93 per cent of the OFCD liability of the two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited, to their investors.
