Hotel Leelaventure would sell its luxury hotel property in Kovalam, Kerala to Travancore Enterprises (TEPL) for Rs 500 crore, in an effort to reduce its debt. The sale will be structured in such a manner that Leelaventure will transfer the hotel undertaking to a subsidiary special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will be then acquired fully by TEPL. Pursuant to such transfer of undertaking to the SPV, TEPL shall acquire 100% of the shares of such SPV from Leela for a total cash consideration of Rs 500 crore. Leelaventure said the deal was pursuant to the decision of the board to pursue an ‘Asset Light Strategy’ to reduce its debt. The company’s debt is currently estimated at Rs 3,950 crore. It has been looking to raise funds through sale of land and promoter equity to repay debt. The hospitality chain has been holding talks with 2-3 private equity players to raise up to Rs 600 crore.
Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) has hinted at declining permission to its business rival Tata Power to use its transmission network to supply electricity in sub-urban Mumbai. Currently, Tata Power, which has over 8,00,000 customers in the metropolis, uses the Anil Ambani-led firm’s 400 sq km long transmission network to supply electricity in the area where R-Infra also has a distribution licence. R-Infra at present serves 2.8 million customers in its licenced area. In a recent judgement, Maharashtra power regulator (MERC) granted distribution and transmission licences to R-Infra, which were expiring on August 15, for a period of 25 years. The licence was granted after the MERC was satisfied that R-Infra had the necessary transmission network and power purchase plan in place.
JSW Steel is committed to setting up a 10 million tonnes integrated steel plant in West Bengal, to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 35,000 crore, within the time frame the company is discussing with the state government. The first phase, the company plans to invest Rs 20,000 crore in the project, including investments in power station and coal mines. The Sajjan Jindal-led company, which had entered into a development agreement with the state government in 2007, has plans to construct a 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel-making capacity, along with a captive power plant of 300 MW in the first phase. The statement of JSW Steel came after a decision of West Bengal government last week, in which it decided to vest 270 acres of land from JSW, which has so far acquired 294 acres of land in West Midnapore district for the project.
Indo Thai Securities Ltd 