Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has agreed to sell its spa company, Bliss World Holdings (Bliss), to Steiner Leisure for US$100m (67.4m euro, £60.3m) in cash.

As part of the agreement, both the Bliss and Remède spas and amenities will remain exclusive to Starwood in the hotel category at W Hotels and St Regis Hotels.

Spa and skincare company Bliss has a global range of free-standing and hotel spa locations, offering services under the Bliss and Remede brands and products under the Bliss and Laboratoire Remède brands.

Bliss also operates an e-commerce business and distributes its products through a range of department stores including Bloomingdale's, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Macy's and Neiman Marcus as well as Sephora.

"This sale is illustrative of our long-term strategy to focus purely on our growing and increasingly global hospitality business," said Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen. "At the same time, we are delighted that we will continue our business relationship with Bliss."

The transaction is expected to close before 31 December 2009. Details: starwood.com