Taj Hotels May Exit NYC’s Iconic Pierre Hotel in $2 Billion Deal

The Taj chain’s The Pierre Hotel in New York might witness a change of ownership. Essam Khashoggi, a Saudi billionaire, and the Sultan of Brunei have both indicated interest in paying $2 billion to purchase the famous Manhattan estate. After managing the Pierre for almost 20 years, Taj might leave if the deal is finalised.

As a result, Taj will only have one property in the US: San Francisco’s Taj Campton Place. Taj’s website states that it purchased The Pierre in 2005 and made it its flagship property in North America. Four years later, the upscale hotel underwent a $100 million restoration.

United Overseas Holding (UOH), a 100% subsidiary of Indian Hotels (IHCL), a Mumbai-listed company that owns the Taj chain and is a member of the $165 billion Tata Group, is the parent company of the hotels in New York and San Francisco. According to business reports, IHCL invested INR 2,324 crore in stock in UOH in FY25. But throughout that time, UOH claimed to have lost INR 82 crore.

Taj Put Up The Pierre Hotel for Sale Last Year

After deteriorating into a “less-than-ideal” state, the 189-room, restaurant and luxury apartment complex known as The Pierre was listed for sale last year. Owners of apartments are also the property’s stockholders.

Among them are prominent figures such as former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Princess Firyal of Jordan, fashion designer Tory Burch, and US Commerce Secretary and trade negotiator for President Donald Trump Howard Lutnick, who owns a penthouse.

Exit Might Scale Down Taj’s International Footprints

The departure would signal a reduction in Taj’s global presence if the purchase closes. At the July AGM, IHCL chairman N Chandrasekaran recently informed shareholders that the company had no ambitions to expand aggressively abroad. According to him, the group is not considering every international market when it comes to international expansion.

It will take into account city-specific prospects in regions like South Africa, Africa, and New Zealand, but it will not seek extensive international expansion. In FY25, IHCL’s overseas hotels brought in around INR 1,512 crore in revenue and made Rs 202 crore in operating profit. According to NYT, Taj has defended its property management and suggested improvements that wouldn’t force the occupants to vacate. The Pierre’s board is in the last phases of the selling discussions, the NYT report further mentioned.