Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) has announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives for its Scandic brand of hotels, including the possible sale of all or part of the business.

The company acquired the Scandic brand as part of its recent acquisition of the lodging assets of the Hilton Group.

The Scandic brand includes 130 hotels: 120 are leased properties, six are franchised, three are managed and Hilton owns one.

Elsewhere, Hilton International, a wholly owned subsidiary of HHC, expects to list 10 hotels for sale in Europe – Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain – by the end of September.

Chief financial officer for HHC, Robert La Forgia, said: “Hilton’s objective on asset sales is to support our stated strategy of generating a higher proportion of future earnings from managing and franchising hotels and less from hotel ownership. Any future sale of assets is a continuation of a process which began in early 2005.” Details: www.hilton.com

Photograph: Scandic Hotel Triaden Oslo in Norway courtesy of Vismedia