Hilton Hotels Corporation agrees to sell Scandic Hotels for £565m

Hilton Hotels Corporation has agreed to sell its Scandic Hotel chain to private equity firm EQT for approximately €833m (£565m).

The transaction, expected to net Hilton £535m after taxes and costs, involves the sale of all 132 Scandic properties, which operate a total of 23,000 rooms.

Of the132 hotels, three are owned, 121 are leased, five are managed and three are franchised.

Scandic, the largest hotel operator in the Nordic region, reported sales in excess of SKr6b (£437m) last year and has approximately 5,700 employees.

The transaction is subject to a number of conditions, but is expected to be completed next month, subject to clearance from European Union regulators.

Hilton, which still has six hotels in the Nordic region in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, intends to use the proceeds of the sale to pay down debt.

Handelsbanken, CIBC and KPMG acted as financial advisers on the deal, with Vinge as legal advisor and consulting firm Bain as commercial advisor to EQT.  

Hilton Hotels Corporations considers selling Scandic >>

Hilton plans to revive Scandic hotel brand >>

Hilton hotels go on market for £500m >>

Hilton stands by its ban on Cubans despite protests >> 

CatererSearch profile: Hilton International >> 

Hilton Hotel Corporation website >>

By Daniel Thomas

E-mail your comments to Daniel Thomas here.