Indian Hotels sweetens bid for Orient Express by 10-15%

Indian Hotels sweetens bid for Orient Express by 10-15%Indian Hotels, which is a unit of India's Tata group, is likely to sweeten its bid to acquire British hospitality group Orient Express by about 10 to 15 per cent in the coming days.

Orient Express had turned down the company's earlier offer that valued its shares at $12.63 a piece translating into the value of the entire company at $1.86 billion. The board of the Orient Express Hotels (OEH) had indicated that they might wait for a higher bid.

It is now believed that IHCL might increase the bid price at $15 per share. IHCL has reportedly begin discussions with lenders to strengthen $750 million financing from banks including Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Some believe that the credit line would upto $1 billion depending on the level to commitment to the efforts to acquire the company. Many also expect that rival takeover bids will be offered soon including one from holding company of Saudi prince Al-Waleed, Kingdom Holdings. This might even spark a bidding war between the potential takeover players.

OEH and its subsidiary have the majority stake and will maintain an upper hand in making decisions over the acquisition of the company.

IHCL operates the hotels under the famous Taj brand in the country.