Golden Jubilee Hotel lenders seek debt buyers

Mumbai: Lenders of the luxury Golden Jubilee Hotel are seeking buyers for their ₹652 crore principal debt due to the inordinate delay in the resolution under the bankruptcy court-monitored process.

The Hyderabad National Company Law Tribunal had approved a ₹584-crore offer from Blackstone in February 2020, but the plan was not implemented due to land-related disputes.

Lenders have set a reserve price of ₹400 crore, implying a recovery of 61% on principal dues. Banks led by the Bank of Baroda have invited expressions of interest by December 22, and an e-auction is scheduled on December 23, according to a notice issued by lenders to asset reconstruction companies.

Lenders have classified the loan as a fraud account.

Early this calendar year, the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted a search on the promoters of Golden Jubilee Hotel on allegations of diversion of bank loans. The CBI probe resulted from a first information report (FIR) filed by lenders alleging fraudulent transactions undertaken by the promoters leading to default payment of loans.

EIH Ltd, which operates the Trident chain of hotels, has 16% equity in the company that first hit the headlines in 2017 for hosting Ivanka Trump, the daughter of then-US President Donald Trump.

Golden Jubilee Hotel, located in the hi-tech city of Hyderabad, is owned by Core Hotels- which has investments from funds managed by JPMorgan. The hotel is a public-private partnership with the department of tourism and Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture (YATC) -the government of Telangana.

Even as the NCLT approved a resolution plan given by Blackstone, it was unable to implement it due to objections raised by YATC claiming that they own the underlying lease land. In 2007, YATC entered a 33-year lease with Golden Jubilee to build and operate the hotel. YATC claimed that as per the clause in the lease agreement, the lease price will be reset if there is a change in the lessee.