After snapping London's iconic Grosvenor House Hotel for 470 million pounds last year, diversified business conglomerate Sahara India is close to buying out a bunch of Marriott hotels in London valued at 750 million pounds.

Though UAE-based Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, has emerged as the lowest bidder, Sahara has been identified as the preferred bidder. This is because RBS wanted to sell it to someone with hospitality experience and not to just someone as a strategic or financial investor, sources briefed about the matter told TOI.

Interestingly, RBS - a troubled British bank which had to be bailed out by government - was the seller of Grosvenor House to Sahara last year. RBS took control of the properties after failure of talks to restructure loans it extended to the previous owner, a consortium that included Quinlan Private, the Irish real estate fund, and Delek, an Israeli property investor. The Marriott portfolio includes 42 four and five-star hotels in England, Scotland and Wales, with about 8,000 rooms. The hotels, which include the Marriott Country Hall on London's South Bank, are operated by Marriott International under a 30-year management agreement that commenced in 2006.

"There is also a possibility of ADIA joining Sahara to acquire the hotels which are spread across UK ... some in London's upscale Mayfair and Kensington areas," said the source. When asked about the deal, Subrata Roy, chairman and managing worker of Sahara India Parivar, told TOI, "Our people are in London working with RBS, giving final touches to the deal and it may be announced this month."

Jones Lang La Salle, a global real estate services firm, and Hawkpoint, a corporate finance firm, have mandate to manage the sale. Sahara has raised 250 million pounds by pledging Grosvenor House to fund this acquisition. "RBS is comfortable with Sahara as it sold Grosvenor House to the same group earlier and it wanted a hotelier to buy the property, not a fund," said an analyst.

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com