Privately-owned hotel group Marston has put itself up for sale with a price tag of £175m.
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Crewe Hall, in Cheshire, was bought
by Marston last year...and it could
change hands again soon, along with
the rest of the hotels in the group
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The 15-strong chain of three- and four-star hotels was expected to be sold to newly established hotel group Dawnay Shore Hotels for about £150m, but talks are said to have collapsed at the final stages.
Chairman and managing director Chris Scragg confirmed that the group had appointed agent Christie & Co to handle the sale of the chain.
He confirmed that Dawnay Shore Hotels had approached the company but said that "the matter was not concluded".
Scragg also said there had been a "huge" amount of interest since it hoisted a for-sale sign over the business last week.
Several provincial hotel chains are understood to be considering putting themselves on the market at the moment, with some industry insiders mooting trendy hotel chain Alias as the next likely candidate.
- Property firm Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB), which owns the Malmaison chain of hotels, has put its five-star, 189-bedroom Howard hotel in London up for sale for £75m. MWB bought the property from Singapore-based Raffles International in April 2000 for £45m and since that time it has been managed by Raffles' Swissôtel division. Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the property.