Sahara in exclusive talks to buy Plaza Hotel An Indian conglomerate has paid $10m to secure exclusivity for its $600m proposed acquisition of the Plaza Hotel in New York. Sahara India Pariwar made an unsolicited offer about a month ago to El Ad US Holding, an Israeli-owned property company, for the 20-floor Manhattan building which includes the hotel, luxury condominiums and retail businesses. Sahara, which bought London's Grosvenor House hotel in 2010, is trying to extend its reach outside its home country. "We are considering this offer very seriously," said Udi Erez, chief executive of El Ad to the Financial Times. But in order for this deal to go ahead, two things would need to happen. First Sahara needs to complete its due diligence and second, we need to get approval from our partners Kingdom Holding," the investment company controlled by Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Sahara values the hotel portion of the Plaza, which is comprised of 230 hotel rooms and condominiums, at $400m. Its offer values the retail component, which includes the restaurant, banqueting space, a fitness club and spa, at $200m. El Ad owns roughly 66 per cent of the building, which opened to the public in 1907. Mr Erez said: "I think this is a fair offer and as we have given Sahara exclusivity for a limited time, we would not consider other offers at this stage. We need to formally speak to Kingdom Holding to get their point of view and this will happen in the next two or three weeks. But this is not a firm commitment on either side. Every month someone knocks on our door to make an offer for the Plaza. It is a trophy asset. Usually we do not consider it, but this is a big company that is very serious. They came with a broker and a $10m deposit in hand," Mr Erez added. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, part owned by Kingdom, the co-owner of the building, manages the Plaza but would lose that role if Sahara takes over. Although El Ad could sell just its stake with Kingdom's approval, Mr Erez said Sahara is only interested in a complete buyout. Charles Henry, a spokesperson for Kingdom, said earlier in the week the company had not yet been formally approached by El Ad, adding that it "is not a seller of its interest at this time." Mr Erez said the private company would use the money from the sale to invest in higher margin luxury properties elsewhere in the US. El Ad owns properties in other parts of Manhattan, as well as in Chicago and along the Wilshire Corridor "Golden Mile" in Los Angeles. We have a very amicable relationship with Kingdom and we need to know what they think. They are good partners when it comes to the day-to-day running of the Plaza, but you do not use this to base decisions on whether or not to sell," Mr Erez said. Sahara, which has interests across industries including infrastructure, property, media and IT, declined to comment.