The hotel arm of India's Tata Group is hoping that a gentler tone may help it win over Orient-Express Hotels.
The Indian Hotels Company sent a letter to its target's board on Friday, offering to “dispel any misunderstandings†about its bid to buy the roughly 93 percent of Orient-Express that it does not already own.
Orient-Express, which owns and runs high-end hotels, cruises and restaurants like the 21 Club in Manhattan, has not offered a formal response to the unsolicited takeover bid yet. A representative wasn't immediately available for comment.
In its letter, Indian Hotels emphasized that its takeover bid of $12.63 a share represented a 40 percent premium to where Orient-Express was trading on the day before the proposal was made public. But that offer was based only on publicly available information, prompting Indian Hotels to seek formal negotiations.
“To the extent you and your advisors wish to discuss value-drivers of which we may not be aware, we would be pleased to engage in a constructive dialogue regarding these issues,†R. K. Kumar Krishna, an Indian Hotels director, wrote in the letter.
Indian Hotels also offered to set up a meeting with Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Group, and Luca Montezemolo, the chairman of Ferrari who is helping provide financing for the offer.
Shares of Orient-Express were down slightly at $11.38 in midmorning trading on Friday.
