RIL to buy Leela's IT park

RIL is in the fray to acquire Hotel Leelaventure-promoted IT park in Chennai for Rs 172 crore, accroding to media reports. The talks are advanced with Hotel Leela's board approving the sale to a preferred bidder last Friday.

A top Leela official said no definitive deal has been signed with anyone, adding serious discussions to divest the land assets were underway .

An RIL spokesperson, however, refused to comment. Since the property is classified as an IT park, RIL will have to mandatory use it for ICT purposes only.

Leela Group has been trying to find suitors for the IT Park for nearly a year. It first looked to lease out the property to IT companies which did not fructify. Having caught in a debt swirl, the group decided to sell the park.

Nairs-promoted Leelaventure has just concluded the terms for debt restructuring through RBI mandated Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) Cell.

The hospitality major had agreed to sell some of the assets to repay debt. Leela has close to Rs 4,000 crore of debt under CDR. Under the terms, Leela has been given an extension of up to eight years for repaying the loan. It has been extended an additional termloan to support its operations.

The company is also selling its land parcel in Hyderabad , where it planned to build a luxury hotel.

The group has decided to part develop land adjoining its hotel property in Bangalore for residential projects. It is also looking to develop its land parcel in Pune for residential purposes.