Owner of NY's Pierre hotel seeks to pare debt

Mumbai

THE operator of New York's Pierre hotel is seeking to cut its debt by as much as 30 per cent in about a year by selling some of its assets, including the stake it holds in a luxury chain that runs the 21 Club restaurant.

Indian Hotels Co, part of the US$109 billion coffee-to-cars conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd that owns the Taj brand of luxury hotels, prefers to raise capital from its own asset base and use that to help pay part of its US$786 million of debt, managing director Rakesh Sarna said. On top of his sale list is its 6.98 per cent stake in the erstwhile Orient-Express Hotels, now called Belmond Ltd, he said.