India’s SAMHI/Barque Hotels Rescued By Cerberus Capital to Save Holiday Inn Express Chain
Main Photo: Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru Whitefield
Date: November 2021
Name: SAMHI Hotels, the holding company of Barque Hotels
Location: India
Number of Keys: 1,792
Owner: Goldman Sachs-backed SAMHI Hotels, holding company of Barque Hotels Pvt Ltd
Lender: Cerberus Capital
Goldman Sachs-backed SAMHI Hotels provided INR 83 crore, around US$11m, of quasi-equity to Barque Hotels Pvt Ltd to keep the operator of Holiday Inn Express chain of hotels afloat, while Cerberus Capital extended a INR 285 crore, around $38m rescue finance to prevent a possible default.
Barque Hotels used the four-year debt facility from Cerberus Capital to repay a INR 300 crore loan it had availed of from IL&FS Financial Service (IFIN). SAMHI Hotels, the holding company of Barque Hotels, invested INR 83.28 crore in fully compulsorily convertible debentures.
Barque has a portfolio of 13 hotels with 1,792 rooms and accounts for nearly 40 percent of SAMHI Hotels’ room inventory.
Sarvara Investment Fund, a fund managed by Cerberus Capital, invested in non-convertible debentures issued by Barque with an IRR (internal rate of return) of 21.3 percent. Both SAMHI and Cerberus invested in Barque in October.
In 2018, IFIN had extended a INR 300 crore term loan to Barque which was due in April 2021. Upon request from the hospitality company, IFIN agreed to a six-month extension for repayment, but declined to roll over the loan any further, the first person said.
The rescue finance from Cerberus includes a 3 percent upfront fee and a 2 percent additional interest in case of default. Another 2% interest would be charged if the Holiday Inn Express located in Kolkata does not become operational by October 2023.
An IFIN spokesperson confirmed that Barque paid the full dues. SAMHI declined to comment, while Cerberus did not respond to the request for comment.
India’s Economic Times, on November 3, reported that SAMHI Hotels was in talks with Cerberus to raise INR 1,000 crore in a mix of debt and optionally convertible debentures.
Equity International, International Finance Corporation and Goldman Sachs are the key shareholders of SAMHI, which reported operating revenue of Rs 106 crore in the nine months ended December 2020 as against INR 606 crore in FY2020, according to a rating report by Icra.
The group intends to have a portfolio of 4,277 rooms across 29 properties located in prime markets across India. Of these, 27 hotels with about 4,050 keys are operational and the rest are in various stages of development, said the Icra report. The properties are operated under brands such as Sheraton, Renaissance, Courtyard by Marriott, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Regency, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Sheraton and Holiday Inn Express. It has an in-house brand, Caspia, which operates two properties.
THPT Comment: Not all is well at SAHMI, but with the quality of the backers, looks like they have a rescue plan in hand.
First Seen: Economic Times
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