
Under the lead of Cyrus Mistry, president, and Rakesh Sharna, general manager, the Indian Hotels Company Ltd, holding of the chains Taj and Ginger, began to regroup investments outside India and in a single entity to achieve the expected profit.
The regrouping of properties and titles within IHOCO BV, Dutch holding already owner of the St-James Court in London, is intended to enable better control over hotel operations, which are in deficit in the United States and Singapore. The rationalization of its portfolio outside India has already led to the withdrawal of operations of a Taj Hotel in Marrakesh and the sale of the Blue Hotel in Sydney. Formerly the international president of the Hyatt group, Rakesh Sharna, who joined Indian Hotels Company a year ago, understands the problem of international operations well.
This new restructuring is part of a larger trend undertaken by the new general manager upon his arrival to limit losses that have been accumulating for the last four fiscal years and a level of debt that is more than €500 million. He plans to involve the group in an asset light strategy that will lead to the sale of several properties, including the Sea Rock in Mumbai that has already been announced, and to the exit of the group Belmond.
The development of the group under its brands Taj, Vivanta, Gateway and Ginger remains current news with a pipeline of 19 properties, or 2,500 rooms, by 2018, to reach 18,000 branded rooms.