Distress is occurring in India, but there is a sensible resolution for hotel owners wishing to avoid bankruptcy.
The task of resolution between property owners and lenders can be drawn out in India, but most players will attempt to do all they can to avoid this scenario. Established in 2016, the National Company Law Tribunal is an official Indian bankruptcy court that's helping hoteliers with debt relief and get distressed assets to market.
“Of the total transactions in 2023, 51% of the total volume occurred either under NCLT proceedings or to pare down on debt pressures. Seven transactions happened through the insolvency resolution process under the NCLT, accounting for 41% of the total transacted value in 2023,” said Jaideep Dang, managing director of the hotels and hospitality group in India at JLL. “All these transactions were focused on debt-heavy, premium assets located in strong performing markets, of which approximately 44% was transacted for under-construction hotels.”
The NCLT’s involvement in debt proceedings of Indian hospitality real estate has permitted a fairer valuation, with direct takeovers of properties leading to more successful resolutions, said independent consultant Abhijeet Umathe.
“In the tug-of-war between lenders and hoteliers during debt resolution, a valuation gap emerges,” Umathe said. “Banks prioritize the property’s asset value, while hoteliers, often emotionally attached to their business, focus on its going-concern value.”
Basant Sabu, associate vice president of business development at Indian hotel owner The Fern Hotels & Resorts, said the NCLT's involvement also provides value to owners.
“Building a hotel is a time-consuming affair involving many local approvals. By acquiring ready assets, albeit at slight premium valuations — or in the case of the NCLT at discounted valuations — investors are able to get the best out of the present uptick in the performance of hotel assets witnessed all round,” he said.
The bottom line is that this process provides two major benefits: simplicity and transparency, said Nathan Andrews, business head of hospitality at DS Group.
“Over the past few years, the business landscape of the country has changed significantly. With avenues like NCLT, processes for acquiring businesses rather than assets have become much simpler and transparent,” Andrews said. “This reflects a combination of market dynamics, favorable financial structures and strategic initiatives by debtors to capitalize on opportunities in the evolving hospitality landscape.”
Recently, DS Group utilized the NCLT in its July 2023 deal to acquire Viceroy Bangalore Hotels. Viceroy Bangalore owned the 276-room Renaissance Bengaluru Race Course Hotel in southern India.
Andrews said adding the Renaissance Bengaluru to DS Group's hotel portfolio “gave us an operational asset in one of the prime domestic markets. … This acquisition was perfectly aligned with the expansion plans, [and] the property was operationally profitable even under the NCLT process.”
“With our action plan in mind, it would have become a viable property. It also marks a significant milestone in DS Group’s growth strategy and aligns with our long-term vision of being present in all key markets,” he added.
DS Group decided to use the services of the NCLT to save time, Andrews said.
“Usually, greenfield hotels require four to five years or more to establish themselves in the market. However, given our operational status and well-defined action plans, our property had the potential to become profitable much sooner,” he said.
Deals Uptick
With swifter resolution, more transparent business dealings and a process that is far easier to grasp and work with, there has been an uptick in deals involving distressed Indian hotels since the NCLT was established.
“There have been a spate of resolutions through the NCLT, and outside of it, too,” Umathe said. “Most hoteliers are honest victims of circumstances that pushed them into default. Protecting their equity stake or minimizing the haircut is crucial for them. Deals materialize more often when all parties receive some value, explaining the surge in such transactions.”
Sabu said the cash flow circulating around the Indian hotel industry is helping smooth over wrinkles.
Debt-ridden hotels available at slight discounted valuations are the main targets for investors seeking inorganic growth in India, Dang said. Acquired hotel assets also bring depreciation benefits, which help to reduce tax demands and would not have been the case if surplus cash flow was not deployed.
“In recent times, the Indian hotel market has achieved a certain level of maturity, owing to the quality and number of transactions taking place,” Dang said. “However, unlike mature markets where large institutional players dominate, the Indian hotel transaction market is still primarily driven by high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors due to the limited opportunities for scalability. Of these, the latter category consists of existing players who have simply increased their stake in certain assets.”
The Fern Hotels & Resorts recently acquired two hotels it was already familiar from an operations perspective, Sabu said.
“As a matter of coincidence, the hotel was tied up with us under a management contract initially.
Fern has recently bought the 108-key Bhanu The Fern Jambughoda Gujarat and, more rcently, the 96-key property in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, rebranded to its upscale brand, The Fern.
He said the acquisition was available at a valuation multiple, which will have significant upside for us going forward.”
This route of hotel debt resolution will only gather steam, Sabu said.
“Going forward, the takeover of distressed assets should catch on as the process is becoming simpler and more transparent, and with all hotel groups having definite plans for expansion,” Sabu said, who added his firm is looking to add between eight and 10 hotels via this method.