Seibu Railway forced into hotel sell-off

The near-collapse of Japan's top rail and leisure group, once run by Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, Japan's wealthiest man, is forcing the sale or closure of the group's 85 hotels and resort facilities.

A scandal-ridden Seibu Railway Co has announced the 200b yen (£985m) sell-off of more than half its leisure properties, including an about-to-open 33-storey luxury hotel in the centre of Tokyo - the Tokyo Prince Hotel Park Tower. Other properties to be sold under the group's Prince chain include the Yokohama Prince, the Takaragaike Prince in Kyoto, and the Toronto Prince Hotel in Canada.

The Seibu Railway Co rose to eminence during Japan's economic boom of the 1980s when owner Tsutsumi was one of the richest men the world.

Tsutsumi now faces criminal charges of insider trading after he allegedly falsified share information to bolster his flagging empire. He resigned as chairman in March.

The group's interest-bearing debts total 1.4 trillion yen (£6.9b)

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 07 April 2005