Indian Hotels Ltd (IHL), which owns Taj group of hotels, on Wednesday said it was looking for acquisition of properties and marketing tie-ups in India and abroad. "We are looking for properties in the USA and South Africa," IHL chairman Ratan Tata told reporters. He said the company so far had no investment in real estate and was looking at several properties.

"We were looking for some properties in the US, but could not acquire one. It is difficult to locate properties there," Tata said. "Our first preference is to have a small stake in properties abroad and then have marketing contract," he said. Asked what kind of stake was being looked at, Tata said, "any proposition that makes sense will be examined."