Hotels in a joint venture between Whitbread and Marriott International have been sold in a deal worth almost £1 billion.

The move sees Whitbread exit the luxury hotels sector by offloading 46 hotels, which were part of a joint venture set up with Marriott International in 2005, to Royal Bank of Scotland for £951.4m.

The disposal of the Marriott hotels is part of Whitbread's efforts to restructure the group. Its share of the sale is £237m and it is now expected to concentrate on its more lucrative budget hotels.

In the 50 weeks to February, like-for-like sales at the group's Premier Travel Inn business increased by almost seven per cent, in sharp contrast to struggling sales at its restaurants and pubs divisions - which include TGI Fridays and Pizza Hut.

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