A consortium led by entrepreneur Johnny Sandelson has struck a deal to buy the $1bn (£620m) loan securing a trio of trophy hotels including London’s Grosvenor House.
The facility, issued by Bank of China to the Sahara Group, is secured against the 494-bedroom hotel on Park Lane, W1, as well as the 280-bedroom Plaza hotel and 315-bedroom Dream Downtown hotel, both of which are in New York.
The Sandelson-led consortium is being financed by a group of New York-based hedge funds.
Sahara Group bought the Grosvenor House Hotel in 2010 from Royal Bank of Scotland for £470m, financing the deal with a $476.8m loan from Bank of China.
When Sahara bought the New York hotels in 2012 for close to $800m the Bank of China facility was extended by $465.9m.
Sahara has been in talks to sell the hotels since last year.
Its founder, Subrata Roy, is currently serving a jail sentence in India for failing to repay billions of dollars to investors who were sold outlawed bonds.
He needs to raise 100bn rupees (£1bn) from the hotel sales to have a chance of obtaining release on bail, according to Reuters.
The consortium’s complex negotiation on the debt, involving Sahara, has been continuing for many months.
A source said the debt deal was a “step towards wider transactions, with its ambitions to acquire the assets”.
It is set to be the latest coup for Sandelson, who amassed an eight-acre private estate in Queensway, W2, in 2013. Backed by investors, he pieced together the land through a series of off-market deals.
His latest purchase on the estate was in June.
