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    Sankalp top bidder for stressed hotel unit of Rajesh Lifespaces

    Synopsis

    Banks received six bids with resolution plans ranging from ₹145 crore to ₹250 crore in the initial round of bidding conducted last month. Sankalp's offer was closely followed by Mumbai-based Rockwood Hotels & Resorts, which offered ₹247 crore payable over eight years, documents accessed by ET showed.

    ​Who all bidiStock
    Other bidders include Kolkata-based Shri Ram Multicom, Delhi-based Unison Hotels and Ahmedabad-based Rare ARC.
    Mumbai: Ahmedabad-based hospitality and restaurant group Sankalp Recreation has emerged as the top bidder in the initial round to take over the defunct hotel business of real estate company Rajesh Lifespaces, offering ₹250 crore over a span of three years to settle the total debt of ₹621 crore.

    Banks received six bids with resolution plans ranging from ₹145 crore to ₹250 crore in the initial round of bidding conducted last month. Sankalp's offer was closely followed by Mumbai-based Rockwood Hotels & Resorts, which offered ₹247 crore payable over eight years, documents accessed by ET showed.

    DMart promoter Radhakishan Damani's investment vehicle Bright Star Investments is also one of the bidders and is the only one offering the full payment of ₹222 crore upfront. These bids are, however, non-binding and banks are likely to negotiate for a higher amount in the binding bids.

    "This process is being run under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), so bids are currently being scrutinised to ensure they are within the framework set by the adjudicating authority," said a person familiar with the process. "Another round of open bidding with binding offers could be asked later this month after this scrutiny is done."

    Bankers are likely to ask for more money upfront in the formal bidding process, which will kick off later this month. Five out of six bidders have offered a staggered payment, ranging from six months to eight years. Individual bidders couldn't be contacted.

    Rajesh Business & Leisure Hotels owes lenders, led by ICICI Bank, a total of ₹621 crore. It had tied up with Singapore-based General Hotel Management (GHM) to operate a 316-room five-star hotel under the 'The Chedi' brand at Kanjurmarg near Powai, Mumbai. However, the company could not complete the project due to a liquidity crunch. Rajesh Business & Leisure Hotels has been marked as a non-performing asset (NPA) on bank books since 2019.

    ICICI Bank has the largest exposure to the company with ₹331 crore of loans, followed by Bank of Baroda (BoB) with ₹162 crore and Union Bank of India with ₹128 crore. The claims from banks are in the form of external commercial borrowings and bank guarantees. ICICI did not reply to an email seeking comment.

    Other bidders include Kolkata-based Shri Ram Multicom, Delhi-based Unison Hotels and Ahmedabad-based Rare ARC.

    In November, ET had reported that 36 entities including the Tata group's Indian Hotels, K Raheja Corp's Chalet Hotels and the local asset owner of the Hyatt chain had expressed interest in taking over the debt of the defunct hotel business.




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    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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