Tata group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company, which runs the Taj brand of hotels and resorts, on Friday said it would soon take a final call on its relationship with Orient-Express Hotels.
Indian Hotels holds a 6.9 per cent stake in the luxury US hotel chain, which spurned a $1.86 billion acquisition bid by the Tata group company in late 2011.
“We are exploring different ways of working together,” Indian Hotels Chairman Cyrus P Mistry told shareholders at the 112th annual general meeting here. “Our board will review this again in the short term to see if there is any opportunity to continue.””When we acquired shareholding in Orient-Express, the board had considered it as a strategic investment,” he added.
In October 2011, Indian Hotels made the $1.86 billion bid to acquire all outstanding class A shares of Orient-Express Hotels, which termed the offer “unsolicited.”
Indian Hotels, along with Charme II Funds founded by the family of Ferrari Chairman luca Montezemolo, had offered $ 12.63 per share in cash to acquire the outstanding 93.1 per cent stake in Orient-Express.The takeover bid was the second by Indian Hotels, after an attempt in 2007 to increase its stake failed due to stiff opposition from the then Orient-Hotels management.