Indian Hotels, the Tata group's hospitality flagship which runs the Taj group of hotels, is expanding its premium restaurant Bombay Brasserie across the UK, Europe, the US, the far-east and Japan. The move is aimed at developing the restaurant into a top-of-the-line international chain. Currently, the group has two outlets in London.
Indian Hotels, through Taj International Hotels, holds 100 per cent stake in Bombay Brasserie.
The restaurant has built up considerable brand equity over the years and the Taj group will be expanding its presence through a network of franchisees. Bombay Brasserie specialises in north Indian and tangy tandoori food.
The plan is that the local partner in those countries will invest and the Taj group will manage operations. However, if required, the company would also hold a minority stake in certain properties, senior Indian Hotels officials said.
After a review of its international operations, the Tatas got out of the hotels in Chicago, New York and Washington over the last year. The reason cited was that the properties were not in tune with the Taj standards and the image the group was trying to create. Reportedly, the first two fetched the company around Rs 170 crore.
Following the Carlyle acquisition fall-out, the group's revised international strategy includes acquiring properties in Manhattan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto. The group would focus on super-premium hotel properties.
Indian Hotels is planning to rope in a strategic equity partner for Taj USA, the to-be-holding company which will oversee the group's acquisition plans there.
Taj USA model will be similar to that of Taj Asia, where 50 per cent stake was offloaded to a non-resident Indian group.
Taj Asia is the holding company of the group for the south-east Asia operations. Earlier in the year, the group had offloaded 50 per cent stake to the Nepal-based Chaudhary group.
