DLF, the Rs 7,800-crore realty giant, has finally sold its 100 per cent stake in Amanresorts for $358 million (Rs 2,200 crore) to Adrian Zecha, the flamboyant, 81-year-old hotelier who founded the luxury hotel chain in 1988.
DLF had been in talks with Zecha and some other investors for well over a year to sell the stake that it had acquired in 2007.
Announcing the deal on Sunday, India’s largest property developer said DLF Global Hospitality Ltd, its step-down subsidiary, had completed the sale of its 100 per cent stake in Silverlink Resorts Ltd to Aman Resorts Group Ltd, a joint venture between Peak Hotels & Resorts Group Ltd and Adrian Zecha.
Silverlink controls Amanresorts, which owns and manages 26 luxury resorts and hotels in India, China, Bhutan, France, Sri Lanka, the US and Greece.
Zecha said, “I am delighted to partner Peak as they share my vision for Aman’s future growth and are committed to sustain our company’s reputation for many decades to come.”
The transaction will not cover the six-acre property on Delhi’s Lodhi Road. The book value of this property is about $85 million, but its market value is estimated to be much higher. The property was acquired under the privatisation programme initiated by the NDA government.
In 2007, DLF had bought a 97 per cent stake in Silverlink Resorts, the holding company of Amanresorts, for $400 million, including an assumed debt of $150 million (around Rs 1,750 crore at 2007 exchange rates) from Zecha.
Zecha, the Czech-Indonesian hotelier, is now buying back his hotel chain at a price that is lower than what he was paid in 2007.
The stake sale in Amanresorts is part of an overall strategy at the realty group to sell its non-core assets to trim its Rs 21,000-crore outstanding debt. It aims to pare this to Rs 18,000 crore by the end of this fiscal.
Last year, DLF sold its 74 per cent stake in the insurance joint venture with Prudential Financial Inc of the US to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited.
DLF made a killing last year when it sold 17.5 acres of land in Mumbai that it had bought from NTC Mills to Lodha Developers for Rs 2,700 crore. It also sold off its wind energy business.
Saurabh Chawla, executive director (finance) at DLF, said: “This sale is another major milestone in DLF’s strategy to focus on its core business of real estate and divest non-core businesses and assets.”
Nature vision
Aman — which means peace in Sanskrit — was nurtured on Zecha’s desire to create exotic getaways that shunned marble opulence for the pristine beauty of natural surroundings.
Adrian Zecha, the former Time magazine journalist turned hotelier, had founded the upmarket resort chain with the financial backing from several partners, including Anil Thadani, who was the manager of Singapore’s Schroeder Capital in the mid-eighties.
Later, he roped in other financiers — mostly friends such as Clement Vaturi — who took a majority stake in Silverlink and allowed Zecha to conceptualise his unique brand of boutique hotels and exotic hideaways.
In December 2012, DLF Global Hospitality had entered into a share purchase deal with Mahaman Assets to sell its 100 per cent shareholding in Silverlink at an enterprise value of $300 million. The deal was supposed to close by February 2013 and was extended to June that year before falling through.
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