As the market speculation is high the that the Leela Group is close to signing a deal with the Saudi Arabia-based industrial contracting tycoon Ravi Pillai to sell its upcoming hotel property in Chennai, sources have rubbished the speculation.On the condition of anonymity, the person told The Hindu Business Line, even though Leela has been intending to exit the property for some time now, no one has come forward and shown any interest so far. The current market condition would not allow the company to exit now. “It may happen one day. But as I see it, not for now.” The 14 storey property is close to completion and is in the process of acquiring ‘some final clearances' from the Ministry of Environment. In August last year, The Leela group sold its Kovalam property to Mr Pillai for Rs 500 crore. The property had been acquired by the hotel group for about Rs 150 crore in 2005. The company in its statement said the deal was pursuant to the decision of the Board to pursue an asset-light strategy to reduce its debt. The company was laden with a debt of over Rs 3,500 crore. Immediately after that, Pillai said in an interview that he had entered into preliminary talks with the group to acquire more properties owned by it. However, he refused to identify the properties. The Leela manages luxury hotels in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai, New Delhi, and holiday escapes at Goa and Udaipur. It has marketing tie-ups with Kempinski of Germany, and Preferred Hotels group of the US.
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