Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which had placed its only property in Australia called Blue Sydney on the block, has decided not to go ahead with an initial offer of purchase.
The luxury chain IHCL is controlled by the Tata Group. Speaking to Business Line , an IHCL spokesperson said, “Given the global footprint of the Taj Group of hotels, it’s very probable that at any given time we may be working on several projects that are either pure hotel management or hotel lease contracts. IHCL is very often approached by third parties on a regular basis.”
The Blue Sydney has a harbour side location and easy access to the city's Royal Botanic Garden.
Each of the guest rooms retain the authenticity of the original heritage listed wharf building, and a view of the eclectic Woolloomooloo Bay Village, or the Sydney Harbour shore.
Confirming that a bid had been received, the IHCL official added, “IHCL did receive an offer for the Sydney hotel, which IHCL examined but it did not materialise.''
The company added that normally, “for every hotel company, both hotel solicitation offers and queries are received on a regular basis, and it is in our interest to evaluate all options and to ensure that it complies with our strategic intent.''
The Tata owned IHCL's 100 room 5-star hotel in Sydney's Wharf Area was purchased in December 2005 from the Starwood Group for A$36 million (then Rs 117 crore).
The hotel was earlier called ‘W Sydney' and was re-launched as Blue Sydney - a Taj Hotel in February 2006, post the acquisition.
Blue Sydney registered a net loss Rs 2.17 crore on a total income of Rs 55.79 crore in 2012-13.
IHCL has been working on a restructuring plan to spin off all its overseas assets into a subsidiary by March 2014.
Anil Goel, Executive Director for Finance, IHCL, had earlier estimated the revamping business to be complete by March.