Mukesh Ambani?s Luxury Real Estate bet gets HSBC Financing Boost

By Bricksnwall | 2023-10-18

According to the UK registry, the London-based bank initially offered a ?60 million loan facility to a RIL subsidiary in 2021. The agreement has now been extended three times, with the most recent declared increase bringing the total to ?115 million, according to the documents.

In order to increase its wager on Asia's richest man, HSBC Holdings Plc has almost increased the size of a lending agreement to a portion of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Business Empire.

According to UK registry records, the London-based bank initially gave a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd. a ?60 million ($73 million) lending facility soon after it bought the Stoke Park estate in southeast England for ?57 million in 2021.

The agreement has since been extended three times, the most recent announced increase bringing it to ?115 million in December, according to the documents. Stoke Park, a 300-acre (121-hectare) recreational facility in Buckinghamshire that features a championship golf course and served as the scene for two James Bond films, has been financed by HSBC for more than ten years.

As part of its transition away from the energy industry, which has been the foundation of the billionaire's fortune, Ambani's business is currently renovating Stoke Park extensively. Reliance's plans for the property's Georgian-era home, which is now a luxury hotel, include repairing the roof, building seven-star villas, and removing surface-level parking.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani, 66, has a significant share in Reliance, the most valued firm in India, making him the 11th richest person in the world.

A HSBC spokesperson declined to respond. A request for comment was not immediately answered by a Reliance spokesperson headquartered in Mumbai.

In the past, HSBC and Ambani's businesses have collaborated on projects including blockchain-enabled transactions and other strategies for accelerating trade in India. They carried out a type of derivatives arrangement in June, the day after India permitted banks to give consumers better options for currency hedging.

HSBC has joined competing companies in enhancing wealth-management operations in India as part of its strategy to expand its business there. Senior HSBC executives, including Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn, who met with Ambani and other members of Asia's richest in 2022, have been traveling to India steadily over the past few years.

Reliance, a conglomerate involved in everything from retail to refining, acquired Stoke Park as part of a larger shift into consumer products. Hamleys, a chain of toy stores established in the UK, was previously bought by it in 2019 and its presence in India was increased. It also acquired a subordinate interest in the exclusive Mandarin Oriental New York hotel.

Stoke Park, which served as the backdrop for both the 1964 film Goldfinger and the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies, is one of the properties that Reliance has an agreement with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts to help manage. The estate most recently served as the backdrop for The Crown, a drama about the British royal family, produced by Netflix Inc.