Supertech ties up with Leela Palaces for Rs 450 cr Noida hotel

NEW DELHI: Hotel Leela venture Limited, which runs a chain of luxury hotels, has signed a contract to manage an upcoming 250-room hotel in Noida adjoining Delhi.

The hotel is being built by real estate company Supertech at an investment of Rs 450 crore as part of its mixed-use project called Supernova.

Vivek Nair, vice-chairman and managing director of Hotel Leela Venture, said his company aims to focus more on an asset light strategy, doing mostly management contracts for new hotels. It recently signed another management contract with the Bhartiya Group for a 235-room hotel near the new Bangalore airport.

The company recently got approval for a corporate debt restructuring package, according to which it is expected to be debt free by the end of the FY 2013.

Hotel Leela Venture has been looking at selling its assets to reduce its Rs 4,000 crore debt. It has managed to sell its property in Kovalam for Rs 500 crore and now expects to get close to Rs 700 crore by selling non-core assets over the next three years.

Nair indicated that his company was close to selling Leela Business Park in Chennai. This is expected to fetch the company around Rs 200 crore. The company is also selling its land parcel in Hyderabad, where it was to build a luxury hotel. It had earlier signed two joint ventures in Bangalore and Pune to develop housing projects.

Nair also plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through qualified institutional placement or foreign currency convertible bonds when the market sentiment improves.