Hilton hotels go on market for £500m

A portfolio of 10 Hilton hotels has been placed on the market for £500m.

Their joint owners, Vincent Tchenguiz's Consensus and hotel investment vehicle the Farnsworth Group, bought the hotels in June 2002 for £336m, and have reportedly been preparing the portfolio for sale for several months.

At the targeted sale price, the investors would earn about £170m profit if they successfully offload the assets.

Tchenguiz described the sale as "timely", and said he expected it to generate a lot of interest.

It's believed the portfolio, which includes the Hilton Kensington in London, will be sold through sale-and-leaseback deals with long leases.

The nine other properties are located in Cobham, Croydon, East Midlands Airport, Leeds, Northampton, Nottingham, Tewkesbury, Watford and York. Property agent CB Richard Ellis is handling the sale.