Indian Hotels shares in focus after clarification on Pierre Hotel exit buzz – News Air Insight

Shares of Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), part of the Tata Group, are expected to be in focus on Friday, September 19, after the company issued a clarification on media reports suggesting a possible exit from The Pierre Hotel in New York as part of a $2 billion deal.

In a regulatory filing, IHCL clarified that it does not own The Pierre but operates the luxury property under leasehold rights. It emphasized that hotel operations continue as usual and dismissed the reports as “misleading and speculative.” The company added that any material developments requiring disclosure would be communicated to stock exchanges in line with regulatory norms.

The clarification followed media reports claiming that Taj, IHCL’s luxury brand, could exit The Pierre in a deal involving the Sultan of Brunei and Saudi businessman Essam Khashoggi. The reports suggested that buyers had shown interest in acquiring the Manhattan landmark, with a change in management possible if the deal went through.

While reports indicated that Taj had acquired The Pierre in 2005 as its North American flagship and that the property had since fallen into “less-than-ideal” condition, IHCL stressed that it holds only leasehold rights to operate the hotel, not ownership.

Both The Pierre in New York and Taj Campton Place in San Francisco are operated through United Overseas Holding (UOH), a 100% subsidiary of IHCL. The parent invested Rs 2,324 crore in UOH in FY25, while the subsidiary reported a loss of Rs 82 crore in the same period.

The Pierre, which has 189 rooms, restaurants, and luxury apartments, also counts prominent stakeholders among its apartment owners, including former Disney chief Michael Eisner and designer Tory Burch. Reports further suggested that the property was in the final stages of a sale, with management expected to transfer to the Dorchester Collection, a luxury hotel group owned by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei.The speculation comes against the backdrop of IHCL’s overseas strategy. Chairman N. Chandrasekaran recently told shareholders the company is not pursuing aggressive international expansion and will instead focus on select city-specific opportunities. IHCL’s international hotels reported revenue of about Rs 1,512 crore in FY25, with an operating profit of Rs 202 crore.Also read: India’s $3.5 trillion gold holdings show it’s far from a ‘dead economy’: Gurmeet Chadha

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