EIH to build Trident hotel on RIL’s Navi Mumbai land
08 Aug 2012
EIH (East India Hotels), the flagship company of the Oberoi Group, is planning to use land belonging to Reliance Industries Ltd to set up new hotels. For a start, it will set up a Trident-brand hotel in Navi Mumbai on RIL land, EIH chairman Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi told newspersons on Tuesday.
His statement came on a day when Nita Mukesh Ambani, appointed non-executive director on the EIH board last year, made her maiden appearance at EIH's annual general meeting, where minority shareholders approved her induction.
The Oberoi Group brought in RIL as a 'white knight' investor in EIH to stave off a perceived takeover threat from the ITC Group. The Mukesh Ambani-led company now holds 18.53 per cent in EIH as a strategic investor through Reliance Industries Investment Holding Pvt Ltd.
At present, the promoter group holds 35.2 per cent of EIH equity followed by RIL's 18 per cent and ITC's 14.86 per cent.
Asked why an Ambani representative was brought on board and not an ITC person, Oberoi quipped, "Because we invited them (the Ambanis)."
"It is a win-win situation for both of us. If they (RIL) come out with properties, we can manage them," Oberoi said.