Debt-ridden Le Méridien's international hotels could be up for sale following a breakdown in talks between investment bank Lehman Brothers, Hyatt Financial Corporation and the group's senior lenders.
While Le Méridien wouldn't comment, sources close to the deal said the senior banks, led by CIBC and Merrill Lynch, had become impatient at the amount of time Lehman and Hyatt were taking to come up with a rescue package for the 126 hotels.
With Hyatt now out of the talks, mezzanine lender Lehman will have to look at other options for the group, with the wholesale disposal of Le Méridien mooted as one possibility. A sale of the business is expected to generate about £700m, but with debts of £1b lenders are unlikely to recoup their investments.
If Le Méridien is put up for sale, the lenders are understood to want to sell the chain as a group. Canadian hotel company Fairmont and Saudi billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal have both shown interest in the portfolio.
But sources said that Lehman, which has a £200m stake in Le Méridien, would be unlikely to want to sell the company as it had the largest amount to lose.
The sale of the international properties wouldn't include the 11 hotels owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), for which new operators are now close to being found.
Hilton Group is believed to be weeks away from taking over the Waldorf hotel in London, while US-based Marriott International is understood to be leading the race to take control of Park Lane's Grosvenor House hotel.
Fairmont is also believed to be close to taking control of the 190-bedroom Le M‚ridien Shelbourne hotel in Dublin.