Whitbread has confirmed it is in detailed talks to sell some or all of its Marriott hotels in the UK.
The news follows an announcement in October that Whitbread, which owns 52 Marriott hotels, wanted to sell half of its UK Marriott hotels in sale-and-manage back deals.
Shares in the leisure group leapt nearly 10% in early trading. Analysts predict the group will sell its luxury hotels for over £1bn and return the cash to shareholders.
An article in the Times today said that Whitbread was now looking to dispose of all of its hotels in an outright sale.
Pressure on the firm has intensified since Thursday’s news that rival InterContinental Hotels Group planned to return a further £1bn from hotel sales, on top of previous cash returns to investors.
References: EGi News 11/03/05
