The holdings of both class A and class B shares give the holding company a combined voting power of 81 per cent, while all the directors and executives as a 14-member group have a voting power of 81.2 per cent.

In comparison, Indian Hotels have a voting power of 2.2 per cent, while the five shareholders together have a voting power of 7.5 per cent.

Among these shareholders, Dubai Holdings, which had last year made an unsuccessful attempt at acquiring the company, has a voting power of 1.8 per cent, despite its equity holding of 9.2 per cent.

Besides, Steven Cohen-led hedge fund SAC Capital and two other hedge funds DE Shaw and BlackRock have 1.4 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 1.0 per cent voting powers respectively. In terms of equity holding, SAC, DE Shaw and BlackRock have 7.5 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent holdings respectively.

Among these, DE Shaw has said it could participate in a deal involving takeover of OEH, while Tata group is also said to be in touch with various shareholders regarding further hike in its stake.Tata Sons’ Chief Representative for North America David P Good said recently in Chicago that the Orient Express story was still unfolding. Ruling out any hostile takeover move, which is against the Tatas’ business ethics, Good said, “We are in touch with some of the Orient Express shareholders and we are still working with the management.”