U.K.-based investment firm Reuben Brothers has agreed to refinance the US$900 million hotel loan taken by Indian conglomerate Sahara Group from Bank of China, according to multiple media sources.
The agreement helps jailed Sahara leader Subrata Roy stop a foreclosure sale of the Grosvenor House hotel in London, which has been used as collateral for the Bank of China loan.
Sahara Group earlier defaulted on the debt with the bank, which recently hired consultancies to find buyers for the London hotel.
Monaco-based billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben will take over the loan portfolio on three Sahara hotels, including the Dream Downtown and Plaza hotels in New York City, and Sahara will service the debt. Sahara now has four months to renegotiate with potential buyers or financiers to raise funds required to pay its dues to the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Reuben Brothers will have first charge on the properties until Sahara clears the debt.
Roy has been held at New Delhi’s Tihar jail for more than a year in a protracted dispute over refunding billions of dollars to Indians who had invested in outlawed bonds. He has made several failed attempts to raise bail money as he tries to sell the three hotels.