Hilton Hotels sells 10 hotels to Morgan Stanley Real Estate

Hilton Hotels Corporation has announced a deal today to sell 10 European hotels to Morgan Stanley Real Estate (MSRE) for €566m (£387m).

Long term management agreements have been put in place for Hilton in five of the hotels in Dusseldorf, Dresden, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Strasbourg and Zurich.

As part of the deal MSRE will invest immediately €18m (£12m) to upgrade the properties.

Long term management agreements with Hilton for the hotels in Barcelona, Luxembourg and Brussels are expected to be finalised soon.

The Los Zocos Club Resort in the Canary Islands is being sold without contract and the Weimar hotel in Germany will remain under a short term agreement pending an evaluation.

Robert La Forgia, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Hilton, said: "This transaction is a significant step for Hilton as we continue to focus on our strategy of growing our managed and franchise business, while reducing asset ownership and strengthening our balance sheet."

The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt. On completion of the deal, Hilton will have sold over $4.5b (£3.08m) of assets.

Hilton also completed the sale of the Scandic hotel chain – announced last month - to EQT for €833m (£569m) today.

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By Emily Manson

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