Premier Lodge owner Spirit Group has officially put the chain of budget hotels up for sale.
The group, which bought the 130-strong chain and several thousand pubs and restaurants from Scottish & Newcastle in November 2003 for £2.5b, has just completed a review of the business and is now offering the hotels business for a suggested £600m asking price. Investment bank Merrill Lynch was appointed by Spirit last month to conduct the review. Following its completion, the bank teamed up with Bear Stearns and will start sending out "information memorandums" to interested parties in a couple of weeks.