Hilton sells 15 hotels for £382m

The UK and US arms of Hilton are continuing talks

UK leisure firm Hilton Group has sold 15 UK hotels for £382.4m ($654m) to Managed Hotels Unit Trust.

The hotels will continue to be branded Hilton under long-term agreements, with the first deal running for 30 years.

Hilton added it planned to sell more hotels with a value in excess of £400m, including the Hilton London Metropole and Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

The group has been in recent talks with US-based near-namesake Hilton Hotels Corporation about the sale of hotels.

Hilton said the talks with the US group were continuing.

Hilton in the UK and US have been separate since 1964 when Hilton Hotels Corporation split off its non-American business.

The hotels sold in Tuesday's deal are at Aberdeen, Basingstoke, Bristol, Bromsgrove, Coventry, Dartford Bridge, Dunkeld House, London Gatwick Airport, London Olympia, Newbury Centre, Newbury North, Newport, Southampton, Strathclyde and Swindon.

The company is also in advanced discussions over the sale of the Hilton at Edinburgh Airport to the same buyer.