London-based hotel and betting shop operator Hilton Group is reportedly trying to finalise the sale of 16 hotels to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in a deal believed to be worth around £400m.

According to The Times, lawyers from both sides were racing to complete a deal in time to make a Stock Exchange announcement today to coincide with Hilton’s scheduled trading update.

Group pre-tax profit in the four months to the end of October rose by 10 per cent compared to 2004, although there was a slight dip in betting arm Ladbrokes’ profits over the same period due to “adverse telephone high roller results and tough retail trading”.

As yet, nothing has been released to the Stock Exchange regarding the sale of the 16 hotels, which the group put up for sale in July this year. The hotels are all in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and include the Hilton London Olympia, Hilton Edinburgh Airport and Hilton Belfast properties.

In October, RBS was understood to have been shortlisted in the auction alongside three other principal bidders, including Host Marriott, the US property group spin-off from Marriott International.

CB Richard Ellis Hotels is managing the sale and Hilton is hoping to dispose of the properties as part of a sale and manage-back deal, which would allow the group to realise their value while continuing to operate them under a management contract. The disposal forms a continuation of a £400m sale of assets.

In March, Hilton sold 11 of its UK hotels, including the Edinburgh Grosvenor, to US group Starwood Capital for £111m.

In a separate deal, Hilton also confirmed today that talks were continuing over the sale of more than 400 hotels that the group operates worldwide to the US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation, in a deal estimated to be worth about £3.6bn. Details: www.hiltongroup.com