BANGALORE: Even when the group is stepping on hot live-coals spread by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the order of Supreme Court, Sahara has no change, no fear. Continue reading
On Monday, Supreme Court gave one week time to both Sahara firms and Subrata Roy for replying to the contempt petition filed by Securities and Exchange Board of India. Continue reading
Sahara challenges SEBI, invites for a televised debate
The dispute between Securities and Exchange Board of India and Sahara Group dates back to 2008. The issue began when two subsidiary firms of Sahara Group sold convertible bonds worth $3 billion. Nearly 30 million small investors bought the bonds.
Both Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation were alleged to break the codes of conduct of SEBI. The firms’ sale of convertible bonds was termed illegal.
The market regulator claimed that the sale was against the public interest and their norms. SEBI further called it as an entirely ‘private placement.’
Additionally SEBI found out that many ‘illegalities’ crept into the deal. So the regulator ordered the firms to submit the entire list of the investors. Further they ordered the firms to repay the amount to the investors. Once the Sahara failed to comply with the order, it ordered seizure of its properties. Continue reading
SEBI orders freezing of all properties owned and held by Sahara firms.
Freezing the accounts and real estate assets of two Sahara group companies, Securities and Exchange Board of India attached their properties. The order of SEBI will affect the real estate projects of the firms. Aamby Valley City project, an ultra-luxury township project with golf club and other modern facilities, is one of them.
Under the SEBI order, Sahara India Pariwar’s Aamby Valley project will stand frozen. The villa and timber chalet project; being developed at Lonavala in Pune, spreads over 707 acres. This is considered as one of the major projects of Sahara India Pariwar. Continue reading
Supreme Court discards Sahara’s appeal
Sahara’s appeal, against the SC verdict which orders Sahara firms to refund nearly Rs.25,000 Cr to its investors, was turned down by the Supreme Court of India.
Two subsidiary firms of Sahara- Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) as well as Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) were fined Rs.24000 Cr as they were found guilty of amassing investments. The SC had found that many of the investors’ details lacked clarity.
Being suspicious over their investors’ details the SC had asked the Sahara- firms to pay the fine. Later Sahara claimed that they had already repaid their investors. Continue reading
Air India shakes its head in negation to Sahara’s bid.
Debt- driven Air India has recently disclosed its plan to lease/ monetize its real estate assets to cut off its debts. The national carriers was planning to lease out 20 floors of its headquarters at Nariman Point while keeping the top three floors for its own office purposes.
Air India expects to generate around Rs.50 Cr yearly by leasing out 16 lakh sq. ft. in the tower. Lucknow – based Sahara group approached Air India with its plan to lease out the entire area for 30 years. The sources close to Air India however said that the bid was not accepted as it did not wish to lease out the HQ in Mumbai for a longer period. Air India plans to lease the HQ building for shorter period. Continue reading
Sahara Claims that they have refunded their OFCD real estate investors.
A December 9 advertisement showed that both Sahara firms – Sahara India Real Estate and Sahara Housing Investment – have paid SEBI Rs.2,620 Cr. The real estate firms have paid an additional Rs.2500 Cr as well in defense in form of buffer amount.
Last week Supreme Court has granted more time to both Sahara group firms to refund. The SC has given 3 months’ time to refund. As per the SC order the Sahara real estate firms are to pay the entire amount back in two installments. They are given the time up to February first week. Continue reading
Dance time comes back to Sahara
Sahara Real Estate Firms finally had some breath of relaxation. Accepting Sahara’s plea, SC asked SEBI to accept their application for more time to pay off the amount.
Sahara Real Estate Firms were ordered to refund the money collected through debentures. Nearly 3-Crore investors are said to have investment in these firms. Continue reading
Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) were given a fine of Rs. 27,000-Crore. The group was ordered to refund the amount collected from nearly 3-Crore investors. The Supreme Court found out that the order is not yet accomplished by Sahara Groups. Continue reading
SC versus Sahara
Supreme Court, the Apex Court of India condemns SEBI over its light and soft dealings with Sahara Group. The the market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), is invested with the duty of protecting the investors’ interests in securities. SEBI, through appropriate regulations, promotes the development of the securities market.
Supreme Court of India said that SEBI has failed in completing the Court’s order against the Sahara Group. Later August 31 Order of SC demanded Sahara Group to furnish all documents which are related to investments of more than 24,000-crore. The Sahara Group has failed to implement this order. Continue reading
Sahara Group, ICICI Bank, Bhushan Steel, Bharti Realty, Red Fort Capital and Shri Lal Mahal are understood to be in the race among others to acquire Parsvnath Developers’ 1.18 acre of prime commercial land near Connaught Place in the National Capital.
In January, Parsvnath had announced plans to monetise the KG Marg land, which it had bought for Rs 200 crore in 2008. Parsvnath, which is eyeing about Rs 700 crore from sale of this land, got the building plan approved from local authority last week and potential buyer can start construction on the land immediately after the deal, sources said.
“The first round of bidding and due diligence have been already completed. The process will be expedited now as the company was waiting for the building plans approvals before it starts negotiation with potential buyer,” a source, who is involved in the process, said. Sahara Group, ICICI Bank, Bhushan Steel, Bharti Realty, private equity firm Red Fort Capital, rice company Shri Lal Mahal and one leading realty firm from NCR have shown interest in buying this land, sources said, adding that Parsvnath had got bids up to about Rs 700 crore in the first round of bidding.
When contacted, Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain said: “The process for sale of this land is on. We cannot comment any further.” Property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle India is helping Parsvnath in this deal. The built-up area allowed on this prime land is about 1.5 lakh sq ft with 300 car parking. Realty consultant said that prime office buildings near CP are currently commanding a monthly rental of 350-400 per sq ft.
Although Jain did not give any timeline for completion of this transaction, sources said that the deal could be closed in this quarter. Parsvnath has a net debt of about Rs 1,200 crore and plans to reduce it to about Rs 500 crore by utilising the proceeds from sale of this prime property. The company has two housing projects and several shopping malls at metro stations in the National Capital. It is setting up an office building near Gole Market here with an investment of Rs 300 crore.
That apart, Parsvnath had bought in 2010 a 38 acre of land near Sarai Rohilla from the Railways for Rs 1,651 crore, making it the second biggest land deal in Delhi. The company, in partnership with Red Fort Capital, plans to provide luxury housing and commercial space in this project. Parsvnath, which has a land bank of about 200 million sq ft across the country, had received private equity funding from Sun Apollo and JP Morgan in some other projects in NCR.
Piramal Realty has acquired Gulita – property in south Mumbai from Hindustan Unilever for R452Cr. Piramal Realty is planning to develop high-end luxury apartments on the one-acre land and Ajay Piramal might keep a part of it for his personal use, given the premium location, according to ET.
Gulita is a one-acre property in Worli Seaface, which used to house a training centre and private residences of senior executives of Unilever’s Indian arm.
Gulita was built in 1968 and the land was taken on a perpetual lease from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation–the Mumbai civic authority. The property was put on the block after the company set up a new campus in the suburbs of Andheri and shifted its training facilities there.
Since HUL put the building on block, it has attracted several buyers which included Anil Ambani, Gautam Adani, Oberoi Realty and Sahara.
Last year, Piramal Realty acquired a plot of land in Mumbai from Mafatlal Industries Ltd for about R760Cr. Khushru Jijina – MD of piramal Realty said that the company plans to develop five residential projects in Mumbai at an estimated investment of about R1500Cr. The company will develop about 30 million sq. ft. through land acquisitions funded from its own sources.
Recently in real estate space, Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd sold 2 acre plot in Mumbai to Adani Enterprises for R900Cr to repay its debt. Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Private Limited, the Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) has acquired two operating Buildings in Hitec City 2 Special Economic Zone in Hyderabad, India, from Phoenix Infocity Pvt Ltd for R176.5Cr; while IL&FS Investment Managers bought Logix Group’s four office buildings in Noida for R600Cr.
Real estate major Parsvnath Developers may soon be able to reduce a significant chunk of its debt, thanks to certain corporate giants showing interest in buying a prime piece of property it owns in the national capital.
The Sahara Group is engaged in discussions with Parsvnath to buy its commercial land near Connaught Place in New Delhi, according to sources. ICICI Bank is also among the contenders for the piece of land, it is learnt.
The 1.18-acre plot at Kasturba Gandhi Marg was bought by Parsvnath in 2008 for about Rs 200 crore, with the aim of constructing a retail-cum-office complex. But the realtor is now looking to sell it to cut mounting debt, currently at Rs 1,300 crore.
Although the Parsvnath management is looking for a price of Rs 700 crore, the interested parties are ready to sign a deal at Rs 600 crore, sources said. Property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle is advising Parsvnath on the deal.
Pradeep Jain, chairman, Parsvnath Developers, did not respond to repeated calls and e-mails. Mails to Sahara spokespersons did not elicit any response.
An ICICI Bank spokesperson said, “ICICI Bank has no plans to acquire this property.”
According to sources, ICICI is exploring the possibility of constructing a corporate house in the locality in partnership with Parsvnath, without acquiring the land.
Earlier, as part of its fundraising exercise, the company had entered into various deals with private equity funds.
In January 2011, Parsvnath signed an agreement with SUN-Apollo India Real Estate Fund LLC for an investment of Rs 100 crore in its premium residential project at Ghaziabad—Parsvnath Exotica. SUN-Apollo had acquired 49.9 per cent stake in the project SPV.
Then, the company sold a minority stake in Delhi-based residential project Parsvnath La Tropicana to JP Morgan for about Rs 150 crore. Through the deal, the previous investor, Red Fort Capital, made an exit. The company had plans to construct an office complex at Connaught Place along with the PE firm.
According to realty experts, demand for land at prime localities has risen as corporate houses look to move their headquarters to such locations.
Anuj Nangpal, director-investment advisory, DTZ India, a real estate consultancy, said, “Organisations are increasingly signaling their arrival or resurgence by moving their presence into the centre of metros. The branding benefit of such ownership of prime real estate far outweighs the costs. Further, employees are also increasingly assessing their jobs and future basis of their office infrastructure and the pride in occupying prime real estate clearly impacts long-term retention.”
Earlier, Business Standard had reported on the discussions being held by textiles major Alok Industries with various large corporate groups to sell its property at Peninsula Business Park in central Mumbai. Alok was looking at a deal in the range of Rs 900-1,000 crore.
Real estate gurus in the Noida region are worried a lot on Tuesday. Mega projects such as construction of the Formula 1 motor racing track were possible due to considerable political backing during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regime. However, farmers, caught in the recent land acquisition row in the same area are rejoicing after the UP election result.
As Noida and Greater Noida, next to Delhi, had gained in prominence under Mayawati as the UP chief minister, Lucknow would get the same treatment now, experts said after the results to the five state elections were announced.
So, now Lucknow may well become the new real estate capital of Uttar Pradesh under the Samajwadi Party’s rule in the state, as a result of clear shift from Noida at present.
Sanjay Sharma of Qubrex, referred to industrialist Subrata Roy’s close associations with the SP. “They (Sahara) would gain. Sahara has Sahara City Homes in Lucknow and various places in Uttar Pradesh. He also said that “They have acquired a lot of land in UP”.
As a result, even the small developers in Lucknow will benefit from this shifted focus.