Economic Times- A clutch of hedge funds with a combined one-third equity interest in the Bermuda-based Orient-Express Hotels (OEH) has approached prospective buyers, including the Tata group and real estate major DLF, to sell their stake in the marque hotel chain.
SAC Capital group, which holds a 22.5% stake in OEH, DE Shaw (5.7%) and BlackRock (5.2%) have sent feelers to the two Indian groups, people close to the transaction said. But the Indian companies, it is believed, have not exactly warmed up to the idea.
DLF group CFO Ramesh Sanka told ET, “There is no truth in it. We have not been approached by any hedge fund for acquisition of OEH shares.” A senior official of Indian Hotels, which runs the Taj chain of hotels, told ET, “We are more interested in dealing directly with the OEH management, rather than acquiring shares from the hedge funds. It (the acquisition of shares from hedge funds) does not fit into the group’s philosophy on hostile takeovers.”
