Royal Bank of Scotland to put four hotels up for sale, say reports

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is reportedly putting four hotels worth up to £650m up for sale, including the landmark Waldorf Hilton and Cumberland hotels in London.

The bank is understood to have instructed CB Richard Ellis Hotels, the real estate consultancy to find buyers, according to The Times.

RBS hopes it will be third time lucky after two previous attempts to sell the properties failed.

The four hotels, which also include the Park Inn at Heathrow and the Marriott Victoria & Albert in Manchester, were due to be sold to Vector Hospitality, together with 11 other Hiltons owned by RBS, for about £1.1b. However, the deal collapsed in June when the £2b flotation of Vector failed.

RBS then made a fresh attempt to sell the entire package of 15 hotels, agreeing a £1b-plus deal with Robson Asset Management (RAM), a new investment vehicle set up by Jeremy Robson, the bank's former head of principal finance.

But the uncertainty in the financial markets scuppered a sale for the second time.

For its latest attempt, RBS is adopting a different strategy. It has stripped out the 11 Hilton properties and is seeking individual buyers for only the four properties. Its plans for the 11 other Hilton hotels are unclear.

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By Daniel Thomas

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