India's Sahara, China's Fosun, Constellation Hotels, M&G, and Abu Dhabi fund vie to buy London's Grosvenor House

Troubled Indian financial services group Sahara, China's Fosun Group, Luxembourg-based Constellation Hotels Holding, British asset manager M&G, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are reportedly in the fray to acquire London's Grosvenor House hotel.

The hotel, which has 420 rooms, is managed by Marriott International.

Bids tabled were in the range of £600m (€848m, $922m) to £625m, The Economic Times reported.

Embattled Sahara, which lost control of the hotel earlier this year and is struggling to pay the $1.6bn needed to bail jailed boss Subrata Roy, put forward its bid through subsidiary Amby Valley Mauritius, the newspaper added.

The Bank of China (BOC), which has custody of the hotel, has appointed Deloitte as the administrator for the property and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) as one of the sales agents.

Asking price

Deloitte sought about £500m for Grosvenor House, Bloomberg reported in March.

Deloitte was appointed to sell the Grosvenor after owner Sahara India Pariwar, controlled by jailed businessman Roy, defaulted on BOC loans for the London property, New York's Plaza Hotel and the Dream Hotel in downtown Manhattan.

Sahara needs to deposit an initial $1.6bn to secure bail for Roy, 66, held at New Delhi's Tihar jail for 14 months in a protracted dispute over refunding billions of dollars to Indians who had invested in outlawed bonds.

Last year, Fosun International, controlled by Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang, bid about £400m for the Grosvenor.