This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Friday, March 30, 2012.
If this hotel ‘block’ deal shapes up, it would measure up as a big-ticket transaction in the hospitality sector globally this year.
According to a report published in The Times, London, Blue Mountain Real Estate Advisors (BMREA), an Indian property investor, has been selected as the preferred bidder for 42 Marriott hotels across Britain after it offered almost £750 million.
The report further said the holding company for the portfolio of hotels collapsed under a heavy debt load of about £900 million, most of which was held by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and a part of the Mumbai-based India Blue Mountain Group has been granted a period of exclusivity by RBS to tie up funds for the deal.
But Janak Vaswani, director, BMREA, said his company has nothing to do with the acquisition of 42 Marriott hotels in Britain and that it has not made any offer whatsoever.
“I am hearing this for the first time myself and I’d like to make it very clear that we have nothing to do with this transaction. While I’m not familiar with any other Indian company with a similar name - BMREA - I’d like to state that we are associated with India Blue Mountains Ltd, which is registered in Jersey, UK. However, I’m not familiar of any such deal being pursued by the overseas entity,” he said.
RBS could not be reached for comment. The assets on offer comprise a total of about 8,000 rooms in 42 hotels in England, Wales and Scotland. It is understood that about 40% of the portfolio’s value comes from six hotels in London. All the hotels are operated by Marriott International under a 30-year management agreement that took effect in 2006.
In fact, there has been some buzz surrounding the deal for a while now. The February 2012 report of The Times, citing sources, had talked about a host of business entities participating in this bid, which include Singapore-based RB Capital, Indian conglomerate Sahara and a ‘mysterious Pakistani family’.
If this hotel ‘block’ deal shapes up, it would measure up as a big-ticket transaction in the hospitality sector globally this year.
According to a report published in The Times, London, Blue Mountain Real Estate Advisors (BMREA), an Indian property investor, has been selected as the preferred bidder for 42 Marriott hotels across Britain after it offered almost £750 million.
The report further said the holding company for the portfolio of hotels collapsed under a heavy debt load of about £900 million, most of which was held by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and a part of the Mumbai-based India Blue Mountain Group has been granted a period of exclusivity by RBS to tie up funds for the deal.
But Janak Vaswani, director, BMREA, said his company has nothing to do with the acquisition of 42 Marriott hotels in Britain and that it has not made any offer whatsoever.
“I am hearing this for the first time myself and I’d like to make it very clear that we have nothing to do with this transaction. While I’m not familiar with any other Indian company with a similar name - BMREA - I’d like to state that we are associated with India Blue Mountains Ltd, which is registered in Jersey, UK. However, I’m not familiar of any such deal being pursued by the overseas entity,” he said.
RBS could not be reached for comment. The assets on offer comprise a total of about 8,000 rooms in 42 hotels in England, Wales and Scotland. It is understood that about 40% of the portfolio’s value comes from six hotels in London. All the hotels are operated by Marriott International under a 30-year management agreement that took effect in 2006.
In fact, there has been some buzz surrounding the deal for a while now. The February 2012 report of The Times, citing sources, had talked about a host of business entities participating in this bid, which include Singapore-based RB Capital, Indian conglomerate Sahara and a ‘mysterious Pakistani family’.
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