India’s Adani eyes dozens of assets of embattled realtor Sahara to build land bank

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By Dhwani Pandya and Arpan Chaturvedi

MUMBAI (Reuters) -Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s property arm is seeking court approval to acquire 87 properties including hotels and malls from a distressed real estate group, a move that could bolster the conglomerate’s relatively small business.

The domestic Sahara Group is seeking to sell hotels, shopping centres, and residential and office buildings to raise funds to repay billions of dollars to investors who put their money in a bond scheme that was later ruled to be illegal.

Adani is seeking to buy all of those assets, its lawyer Mukul Rohatgi told judges on Tuesday at the Supreme Court, which has been overseeing how Sahara repays its investors.

Rohatgi did not say how much Adani was offering for the properties.

The Supreme Court has asked government agencies for their views on the proposal and will next hear the case in November.

Adani Group and Sahara did not respond to emails seeking comment.

SAHARA GROUP DUE TO REPLAY $2.82 BILLION TO INVESTORS

Sahara Group, once the sponsor of India’s national cricket teams and which used to own New York’s Plaza Hotel and the Grosvenor House in London, is due to repay nearly $2.82 billion to investors.

Adani Properties is the unlisted arm of the power-to-coal conglomerate, which is redeveloping Asia’s densest slum Dharavi in Mumbai.

One of Sahara’s marquee properties is a 9,000 acre luxury township – Aamby Valley – situated near Mumbai, which includes an airstrip, golf course, manmade lakes and luxury villas.

A source with direct knowledge of Adani’s planning said the Sahara portfolio would give it access to a huge land bank, as the list of properties includes land parcels.

“It also helps Adani get into hospitality as (luxury Hotel) Sahara Star is also included in this, and so is Aamby Valley,” the source said.

(Reporting by Dhwani Pandya; Editing by Bernadette Baum)