Hotel Leelaventures’ restructuring proposal has been turned down by lenders including State Bank of India (SBI). However, the company which has been reeling under debt of a little more than Rs 4,000 crore expects the lenders to grant their assent soon for this.
Since the company has applied for restructuring of debts under the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) mechanism, a meeting of CDR cell was held last week, wherein, the lender consortium did not accept the terms. By CDR rules, at least 60 per cent of the lenders in the consortium representing at least 75 per cent of the debt due for restructuring have to agree on the terms. The total exposure of lenders to the hospitality company is Rs 4,295 crore. Prominent lenders include SBI, Syndicate Bank, Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank.
The company has been trying to prune its debt for some time through sale of land, properties and hotels. It has also held talks with private equity companies and recently got high court’s grant for selling its Kovalam property to Travancore Enterprises, for a deal valued at Rs 500 crore. Leela had acquired the Kovalam property in 2005 for Rs 150 crore.
