Loan default by parent firm, Yes Bank takes possession of Hyatt Regency building

Hyatt is an American hospitality company that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels. It is managing the Mumbai property on a contract basis on behalf of Asian Hotels (West).

“..notice is hereby given to the borrower (Asian Hotel), which is also the mortgagor and the public in general that the undersigned (Yes Bank) has taken symbolic possession of the property…as on October 28, 2021,” read the possession notice of Yes Bank.

The bank in its notice said Asian Hotel owes Rs 267.86 crore, including interest and charges to the bank as on October 25. The notice said the bank has taken possession of the Hyatt Regency building spread over 15333 square meters. The trouble at the iconic hotel Hyatt Regency first began on June 7, when the management of the five-star hotel said it will remain closed till further notice since its parent, Asian Hotels, is not making payments for salaries and operations.

Subsequently, Asian Hotel in a statement said the hotel management has had to take the unprecedented move of temporarily shutting down Hyatt Regency in Mumbai because Yes Bank, with which it maintains an account, has blocked that account and held back all funds after a default in loan repayment. Asian Hotel said it defaulted on repayment due to a severe liquidity crunch since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On June 8, as many as 200 employees of the hotel in Mumbai approached the industrial court and the labour commissioner seeking protection from termination. The case is still pending in court.

Asian Hotel is also locked in a bitter family fight as Sudhir Gupta, an executive wholetime director of the company, has dragged it to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Delhi.

Asian Hotel runs Hyatt Regency in Mumbai and its subsidiary also runs JW Marriott Hotel at Aerocity in New Delhi.