Sahara to Sell Assets in London, New York To Raise Money

NEW DELHI: The Sahara group told the Supreme Court it was selling its three prime properties in London and New York to raise money to secure the release of Subrata Roy and two other directors. The court, however, asked Sahara to place before it the communication it had exchanged with the Bank of China with which these properties were mortgaged.

The three hotels in which the Sahara group would be off-loading stakes are the Grosvenor House Hotel in London and the New York Plaza and Dream New York hotels.

The court said Sahara would obtain a "confirmation from the Bank of China to the effect that the valuation reports prepared in respect of the three properties... by CBRE and JLL, have been prepared at the instance of the Bank of China and that the valuation reports have been accepted by the bank to be correct".

The court said this "could lend reassurance to the court that the value/stakes held by Sahara in these properties are sought to be transferred on the basis of the true market value of the said assets". The court sought these details as it noted there was nothing on record before it to show that Sahara made any request to the Bank of China at any stage to dispose of their stakes in the three overseas properties.

The court recorded Sahara's statement that the Bank of China "will also be requested to confirm the amount that is outstanding towards the loan advanced by it" for the three properties "to give a clear picture to the court as to the outstanding liability that remains to be liquidated by Sahara qua the said properties". The bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice A.K. Sikri reserved its order on Sahara's application seeking lifting of the embargo on its bank accounts and nine properties in different parts of the country including the mortgage of its real estate assets in the Aamby Valley project.

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