With SEBI stopping the Hotel Leelaventure takeover bid in its tracks, several questions have cropped up.
New Delhi:
Further, they had offered to pay every cent of the outstanding loans for the entire company, including the Mumbai Leela property (which is under legal dispute with AAI).
The Leela saga has seen many twists and turns and the flawed takeover is now under the microscope.
It is believed JM Financial excluded this bid deliberately on purpose by asking them to deposit $90 million in Earnest Money Deposit (Rs 630 crore) with JMF, whereas they did not ask for a single penny from Brookfield.
The Middle Eastern businessman and the arms dealer had several rounds of meetings with the Nair brothers -- Vivek and Dinesh -- in January second week, however, JMF did not budge from their position.
Moreover, a reputed Thai hotel chain, Minor Hotels, also bid for Leela Group and they too were asked to deposit 15 per cent of the bid value, as JMF wanted to block them from entering the fray against BF (Brookfield). JM Financial, which has been pushing this deal is equally under pressure for pushing this flawed acquisition. Brookfield was made to pay Rs 150 crore each to the Nair brothers for branding and Intellectual Property Rights is another facet of this deal which is seriously questionable. JM FIN ARC conduct is now being examined by the SEBI.
ITC has also separately moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NLCT) along with two applicants, asking for an urgent hearing and also waiver of 10 per cent shareholding as minimum threshold to have a say in the management decisions.
A combination of two minority investors – ITC and LIC – jointly owning a tad over 10 per cent petitioned both NCLT and SEBI to prevent this takeover from going ahead, citing oppression and mismanagement against the company. It is learnt that a Middle Eastern billionaire along with an Indian arms dealer had jointly bid for Leelaventure company and their bid at $600 million was higher than any other bid.
Further, they had offered to pay every cent of the outstanding loans for the entire company, including the Mumbai Leela property (which is under legal dispute with AAI).
The Leela saga has seen many twists and turns and the flawed takeover is now under the microscope.
It is believed JM Financial excluded this bid deliberately on purpose by asking them to deposit $90 million in Earnest Money Deposit (Rs 630 crore) with JMF, whereas they did not ask for a single penny from Brookfield.
The Middle Eastern businessman and the arms dealer had several rounds of meetings with the Nair brothers -- Vivek and Dinesh -- in January second week, however, JMF did not budge from their position.
Moreover, a reputed Thai hotel chain, Minor Hotels, also bid for Leela Group and they too were asked to deposit 15 per cent of the bid value, as JMF wanted to block them from entering the fray against BF (Brookfield). JM Financial, which has been pushing this deal is equally under pressure for pushing this flawed acquisition. Brookfield was made to pay Rs 150 crore each to the Nair brothers for branding and Intellectual Property Rights is another facet of this deal which is seriously questionable. JM FIN ARC conduct is now being examined by the SEBI.
ITC has also separately moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NLCT) along with two applicants, asking for an urgent hearing and also waiver of 10 per cent shareholding as minimum threshold to have a say in the management decisions.