Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels, which bid around $1.86 billion to acquire US-listed Orient-Express Hotels, could well be a major point of discussion at the Orient-Express board meet scheduled for Thursday.

The board is to take a call on its earnings on November 1.

With the Orient-Express Hotels also set to announce the appointment of a new CEO post the board meet, the luxury hotelier appears to be firmly indicating confidence in its own abilities, without any outside support, to improve performance of its business.

Several analysts who have been tracking the US hotelier's unsolicited bid, have told newswire agencies and foreign newspapers that though the bid was 43 per cent higher than Orient-Express’s 20-day average price, the offer did not reflect the real value of many of the properties that Orient Express owns around the world.

The Taj Hotels operator has, however, refused to quit in its bid to lure Orient-Express into talks over a potential alliance. The Indian major has also managed to get ex-CEO Paul White to broach the subject with the Orient-Express' board.

> amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in

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