Marriott's UK hotel portfolio to go on sale?

A portfolio of 42 Marriott hotels in the UK could be put on the market after the owners of the properties were unable to agree a debt-for-equity deal with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The portfolio is believed to be worth around £1bn. RBS has now taken control of their ownership and appointed Ernst & Young as receivers.

RBS originally sold the hotel properties to the group of investors - which included Quinlan Private and Delek - in 2007 and reportedly still owns about £700m of the debt used to finance the acquisition.

RBS first acquired the hotels in 2006 from Condor, a joint venture between Whitbread and Marriott International.

Marriott continues to operate the hotels and a spokesperson said each hotel is under a 30-year management agreement dating to the 2006 deal. She added that the operating company remained "entirely unaffected" by any changes in ownership of the properties.