The sale of troubled hotel group Queens Moat Houses (QMH) has been delayed, as more groups have expressed an interest in the company.
Five bidders are now thought to be battling it out to take over all or part of the 89-strong group. Bidders were expected to be whittled down to two this week.
Guy Hands's investment vehicle Terra Firma is thought to be one of the parties interested in the company, and hotel group Hilton is said to be being lined up as a potential operator of some of the sites.
Billionaire tycoons David and Simon Reuben are also understood to have teamed up with Macdonald Hotels and the Royal Bank of Scotland to make a bid for Moat House Hotels, QMH's UK arm, while Savoy Group owner Blackstone is said to have bid £125m for its German division, Queens.
If the whole of QMH - whose shares have been suspended for more than six months - is sold, it is not expected to fetch much more than £600m. QMH said a sale of any part of or the entire group was one of several options it was investigating in a bid to pay off its £640m debt.
QMH appointed investment bank Morgan Stanley in November 2003 to help with its review of the business. Then, in January, Morgan Stanley sent out "teaser" documents to more than 50 companies about a possible sale.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 1 - 7 April 2004