Three iconic luxury hotels-The Plaza and Dream Downtown in New York and London’s Grosvenor House have been put on sale by Sahara Group. If the deal goes through Sahara stands to get about Rs 4,000 crore, or almost three times what it invested in the hotels, after repaying its debt to Bank of China of close to $1 billion against the properties.
The Indian company had acquired New York Plaza and Dream New York for Rs 4,400 Cr in 2012. The 494-room Grosvenor House, once home to a Duke of Westminster, was purchased by Sahara in 2010 from Royal Bank of Scotland for $726 Mn.
Sahara Group holds 75 per cent stake in Plaza Hotel for $570 mn. It had bought Dream Downtown, owned by celebrated New York hotelier Vikram Chatwal for $220 mn.