Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has bought 46 hotels from a joint venture between Marriott International and Whitbread for £950m.

The transaction, completed on 21 April, marks the end of Whitbread’s involvement in the four-star hotel market.

Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread, said: “Following our decision last year to exit the four-star hotel business we are now a more focused company, intent on delivering improvements in operating performance, reducing costs and driving growth in our best performing brands.”

Whitbread said in a statement that the transaction delivers the majority of the asset disposal programme that Whitbread announced last year.

The programme, which has already seen the disposal of Britvic and The Brewery at Chiswell Street, will reach £1.3bn when it is completed.

The consummation of the Marriott deal will result in Whitbread returning £400m to shareholders, on top of a previous £400m returned in May last year.

Whitbread has also agreed to sell the Leicester Marriott hotel development to RBS for £30m in June this year, subject to “satisfaction of conditions concerning the opening of the hotel”.

It has also been announced that Marriott International has incurred a 55 per cent drop in its first-quarter profit to US$65m (£36m) from US$145m (£81m). Details: www.whitbread.co.uk