Two contenders have been shortlisted in the race to buy Initial's conference division after the De Vere hotel group pulled out last week.

Initial's owner, the hygiene and pest control group Rentokil, has put its Style Conference division of 29 residential training centres up for sale with a £300m-plus price tag.

The two remaining parties, according to Mergermarket, the M&A intelligence and research service, are private investors Lazard Private Equity and Patron Capital.

A deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year, but the news comes amid poor third-quarter results for parent company Rentokil Initial. Revenues increased by 6.6% from £529.8m to £564.8m, but pre-tax profits were down 21% from £67.7m