Royal Bank to buy 46 Marriott hotels

Royal Bank of Scotland is set to buy 46 Marriott hotels in Britain from a joint venture owned by leisure group Whitbread and Marriott International, sources close to the situation said.

The sources - confirming a report in The Times which valued the deal at one billion pounds - said the sale was "very close". One of the sources said an announcement could come as early as Friday. RBS and Whitbread declined to comment on the report. A sale would complete Whitbread's exit from the Marriott business as it concentrates on its budget hotels.

Whitbread said in March last year that it planned to exit the franchised Marriott hotel business, setting up a venture with Marriott International to hold the 46 UK hotels. It said at the time that the joint venture would sell the properties within two years to cash in on an appetite for hotel property assets. Whitbread received £710 million in cash from the first stage of the disposal and has said it expects total proceeds of at least one billion pounds.

The Times reported that after the deal, RBS could sell a small slice of equity to a group of investors led by Israeli entrepreneur Egal Ahouvi.