Taj group to quit Kathmandu luxury hotel
The Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which owns the Taj hotel chain, is now poised to sell its 33 per cent shares in the luxury hotel.
Nineteen months after abruptly ending a management contract in Kathmandu's Hotel de l'Annapurna, the Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which owns the Taj hotel chain, is now poised to sell its shares in the luxury hotel.
IHCL holds 33 per cent shares in the Kathmandu five-star, whose other owners include members of Nepal's royal family.
Not listed in the Nepal Stock Exchange, the hotel authorities remain tight-lipped about the other shareholders, saying the information is confidential.
In November 1988, the IHCL signed a 25-year contract with Hotel de l'Annapurna, according to which it was to manage the property, and bought 33 percent of the shares.
However, in December 2004, following an extortion bid by the Maoist guerrillas, it abruptly recalled its expatriate employees and the management contract was ended.
Now the Indian group wants to sell its shares as well.
Yogendra Ghimire, legal adviser and company secretary at Hotel de l'Annapurna, said the hotel would not like to comment till the matter was concluded.
"The issue of the sale of Taj Group's shares is being considered by the parties concerned at this point," he said.
He also declined to comment on the present market value of the shares, saying the matter was confidential.
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