Troubled Sahara Group not selling Grosvenor House hotel in London

Sahara Group told India's Supreme Court that it was not selling its three prized hotel assets – Grosvenor House in London, the New York Plaza and Dream New York – adding that the group intends to develop them.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Group, also told the court that some entities were looking to grab the properties.

The group's response comes after British property developer and financier Kane Capital Partners and US investment banker Madison Capital Holding separately submitted applications in the Supreme Court to buy the properties in London and New York.

Sibal noted that Sahara already has two offers to develop the properties.

"These are serious offers" he said adding that "hopefully, we will give some good news in next 7-10 days before the scheduled hearing on September 14."

Clarifying Sahara's deal with Ruben brothers, the group informed the court that Ruben brothers had taken over the loan provided by the Bank of China (BoC).

The Supreme Court earlier granted bail to Subrata Roy, the head of Sahara Group who has been held at New Delhi's Tihar jail for over a year in a protracted dispute over refunding billions of dollars to Indians who had invested in outlawed bonds. Nevertheless, the top court wanted Sahara Group to pay Rs 100bn (£987m, €1.4bn, $1.6bn) in cash and bank guarantee for his release.

Roy has been in jail since 4 March 2014 with two other directors of Sahara companies.

Paving the way for his bail, David and Simon Reuben agreed to refinance the $900m loan taken by the Sahara Group from the BoC, helping Roy block the forced sale of the group's prized Grosvenor House Hotel in London, which was used as collateral for the loan. Reuben Brothers will reportedly have first charge on the properties until Sahara clears the debt.

The Reuben brothers are the second richest in the UK, according to Forbes, and they have interests across property, technology, aerospace and race courses.