Indian Hotels shares rise after report says Taj may exit New York's Pierre hotel in $2-bn deal

The Pierre

The shares of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) gained 1 percent on September 18 amid reports saying that the Pierre Hotel in New York, which is managed by the Taj chain, may see a change in ownership.

IHCL shares sharply rose 1 percent after trading in the red earlier during the day.

Who are the prospective buyers?

Prominent Saudi family, the Khashoggis, and the Dorchester Collection, a luxury hotel company owned by the sultanate of Brunei, have reached the final stages of discussions to purchase the iconic luxury hotel in New York for approximately $2 billion, New York Times reported citing sources. The Khashoggis will provide some of the funding, while Dorchester Collection will mostly manage the building after an extensive renovation, the report added.

The iconic Pierre in New York was inaugurated in 1930, and was reintroduced in 2007 as the Taj flagship in the USA. The luxury hotel is located in the Central Park. According to the NYT report, billionaire and currently the US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in 2023 pushed for the plan to hire his own real estate firm Newmark Group for advice on how to revamp the property which was seeing some damage over time. The board, as advised by Newmark, has now reached the final stages of talk to sell Piere for roughly $2 billion, the report added.

'Residents may be forced to move out'

If the sale does take place, Pierre's permanent residents like former Disney chief Michael Eisner, fashion designer Tory Burch and Shari Redstone, who recently sold her company Paramount, may be forced to move out, the report added. Lutnick also has a penthouse in the Pierre.

After months of discussions, Newmark concluded that Taj was not willing to invest more money to address the growing problems of the building, according to communications by The Times, cited by NYT.

Moneycontrol couldn't independently verify the reports.

The shares of IHCL have gained nearly 2 percent in the past five days, but have fallen around 10 percent in 2025 so far. The stock gained nearly 16 percent in the past one year.

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