Tata Group's Indian Hotels Co. will increase its voting power in Bermuda-based hotel group Orient Express Hotels (OEH) if shareholders vote to annul the powers of its class B shares.

That is according to online publication Business Standard, which claimed that Indian Hotels had made a number of unsuccessful bids to increase its stake in the luxury hotel chain.

The report said that OEH has called a shareholder's meeting next month to get shareholders' approval. The directors of OEH, who hold 81.2 percent voting rights, have asked shareholders to "vote against the resolutions as these are contrary to the best interests of the company", in a statement issued in Bermuda.

The shareholders' meeting is seeking approval to treat 'Class B' shares — controlled by several OEH members, including founder James Sherwood — as 'treasury shares'. This means the Class B shares that have super voting rights, will lose their importance.

The entity voting right is split between OEH directors (81.2 percent), Blackrock (5.2 percent), Indian Hotels (2.2 percent), Jumeirah Asset (1.8 percent), Stephen Cohen (1.4 percent) and DE Shaw (1.1 percent).

However, the report said, this will be beneficial to Indian Hotels as its voting rights would increase proportionately to the 11.5 percent stake it holds. But the percentage of increase could not be ascertained.

By convening the shareholders' meeting, the global hotel chain was responding to a demand by hedge funds DE Shaw and SAC Capital, who hold 7.6 percent and 6.7 per cent stake in OEH, respectively. Earlier, the hedge funds had threatened to hold the meeting "on their own", in case the management does not hold it.

It said the directors of OEH and owners of class B shares have decided to call for the meeting to avoid a "potentially protracted and expensive dispute". DE Shaw and SAC Capital (run by billionaires David Shaw and Stephen Cohen) were looking at collapsing the company in an effort to put it up for sale.

The company's two largest shareholders — Indian Hotels and Dubai-based Jumeirah Assets — were looking at acquiring the company, but were rebuffed by OEH's management.

According to sources, the report concluded, the companies continue to pursue an opportunity to acquire OEH.