Oberoi Realty's deal to buy Centaur Hotel terminated

Oberoi Realty, which is in legal clash with Cox & Kings for the Centaur Hotel, lost arbitration proceedings related to the hotel property. However, Oberoi Realty wants to retain that parcel of land and has filed an arbitration petition in the Bombay HC, reports Priyanka Ghosh of CNBC-TV18.

Oberoi Realty has 50% joint venture with DB Realty under the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Siddhivinayak Realties Pvt Ltd (SRPL). Oberoi Realty today annouced that it has terminated the agreement signed by its joint venture partner SRPL with V Hotels Ltd to purchase Centaur Hotel. Following this, V Hotels is liable for a refund of about Rs 73 crore. On July 13, the arbitrator held the agreement stands terminated and V Hotels is liable for the refund within 90 days. The agreement, signed on March 31, 2005, was to purchase Juhu Centaur Hotel for Rs 3,500 crore. The deal was, however, under arbitration following a dispute between the parties. Oberoi Realty and DB Realty have so far invested Rs 75 crore on this property. Meanwhile, SRPL will pursue other legal recourse or remedies. Cox & Kings owns stake in Centaur property owner V Hotels. It is learnt that if V Hotels win, Morgan & Stanley would upgrade Cox & Kings which is likely to benefit from it. Also watch the accompanying video. (With inputs from Reuters)