With £1b, Arabs May Conquer Sahara’s NY & London Hotels Deal to fetch group thrice of what it had put in

The embattled Sahara Group has put up for sale the iconic luxury hotels it acquired over the last three years — The Plaza and Dream Downtown in New York and London's Grosvenor House — with an Arab business family said to have made a £1-billion offer for all of them, according to three people close to the development. The family based in the Middle-East has extensive interests in hospitality and has offered a little over . 10,000 crore for the three trophy properties in the "Sahara portfolio" of Aamby Valley Mauritius, said the people cited above. If the deal goes through, Sahara stands to get about . 4,000 crore, or almost three times what it invested in the hotels, after repaying its debt to Bank of China of close to $1 billion against the properties. Dealmakers in Europe told ET Sahara would be the only business group globally to have earned that kind of return on investment in hospitality since the 2008 financial crisis. 

Subrata Roy, founder and head of Sahara Group, has been in talks with royal and business families in the Middle-East and Europe to sell the hotels for more than two months now, said the people cited above. The UK's Halkin Investments, which has former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz on its board, is one of the key advisers to Sahara Group's Aamby Valley Mauritius. 
Sahara Group did not respond to emails. Halkin Investment said it "acts for Aamby Valley Mauritius in an occasional and advisory-only capacity". Sahara has to Pay Debenture Holders 
It did not answer other queries in the email. 
Sahara needs to repay holders of debentures that the capital market regulator said were sold in violation of rules. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was backed by the Supreme Court, which asked Sahara to refund the money. Sahara has said it has repaid much of the amount, but the regulator disagrees. 
The 494-room Grosvenor House, once home to the Duke of Westminster, was purchased by Sahara in 2010 from Royal Bank of Scotland for £470 million, or $726 million. In 2012, Sahara bought the Dream Downtown featuring 315 loftstyle rooms and suites and The Plaza with 230 rooms for close to $800 million. 
Bank of China's total credit facility against Grosvenor is $476.83 million (£305 million). Besides this, the bank extended a combined loan of $465.850 against The Plaza and Dream Downtown. The Chinese bank has reportedly been asking questions about the possible repercussions of Sahara's feud with Sebi. 
Sahara has been asked by the Supreme Court to refund, with interest, all the money raised from investors who had subscribed to the optionally fully convertible debentures issued by two group companies worth more than Rs 24,000 crore. The court has also asked Sahara to deposit land title deeds worth Rs 20,000 crore with Sebi. In February this year, the regulator had directed the attachment of bank accounts and property of the two Sahara companies as well as Roy's personal assets.