Tata Group backed Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) announced on Thursday that it has entered into sharesubscription and share purchase agreements to acquire around 51% shareholding in Brij Hospitality PrivateLimited, for an amount not exceeding Rs 225 crore. IHCL said the transaction will happen directly or through its subsidiaries ANK and Pride subject to fulfilment of certain ‘conditionprecedents.’ The chain said through this acquisition, it will gain ownership of the Brij brand and in collaboration with its founding promoters, it aims to develop the boutique leisure segment in India.
The owning company of the boutique brand Brij has a portfolio of 22 hotels (11 in operation and 11 under development) spanning 440 keys. Its properties include hotels across locations such as Dharamshala, Varanasi and Jaipur. The capital light portfolio of Brij Hospitality comprising of revenue share leases and management contracts, had a turnover of Rs 62.31 crore in the financial year 2024-2025. The transaction is expected to be completed on or before March 31, 2026.
In its investor presentation, IHCL stated that the proposed transaction involves a primary investment of Rs 105-140 crore and a secondary share purchase of Rs 85 crore. The hospitality chain said the proposed transaction adds a brand in the boutique luxury space to complement its existing Tree of Life brand and that it will also ensure continuity of the existing management team to enable ‘continued business momentum’ and ‘future growth’.
IHCL MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said the proposed transaction extends the chain’s partnership with the Clarks Group by furthering the marketing and distribution alliance to a majority shareholding in Brij Hotels, one of the country’s early entrants in the boutique leisure segment. He said Brij’s presence in offbeat locations also adds to the chain’s ‘brandscape’ and offers ‘heterogeneity’ to IHCL’s portfolio across locations places such as Jaipur, Varanasi, Ranthambore, northern hills, the north east region and Goa among others. “It makes us a dominant player in some of these locations across price points and the proposed transaction takes IHCL’s portfolio to 610 hotels with 253 in the pipeline, well on course to meet our guidance of 700 hotels under Accelerate 2030,” he added.
He said besides building the boutique segment further in the country, the transaction also helps the chain get entrepreneurs on board and make them a part of its system. “We get access to people who are emotionally attached to these hotels. It helps us give them a platform and offer financial strength to do much more than what they had been doing,” he added.
Udit Kumar and Anant Apurv Kumar, co- founders of Brij Hospitality, said Brij Hotels has been recognised for creating immersive and locally rooted experiences. “IHCL’s legacy of presenting Indian hospitality to the world aligns deeply with our purpose at Brij. Together, we will bring IHCL’s tradition of excellence with Brij’s experiential, design led approach to craft meaningful journeys and build the first truly global Indian boutique hospitality brand,” they added.
In August last year, IHCL had said that it had entered into share subscription and purchase agreements and shareholders’ agreements to acquire around 51% equity stake not exceeding Rs 110 crore in ANK Hotels Pvt Ltd and a 51% equity stake for an amount not exceeding Rs 94 crore in Pride Hospitality Pvt Ltd.
The companies had a portfolio of 135 hotels which are operated under the Clarks Hotels & Resorts brand across India. At the time of the announcement, the company had also said that it had signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Brij Hospitality.
