Forte in move to hive off 80 hotels

THE FORTE leisure group yesterday said it was hiving off 80 of its lower-range hotels into a separate company, County Hotels. The move is widely thought to foreshadow eventual sale.

About 60 of the largely one and two-star Heritage hotels will transfer to the separate company, along with 20 of Forte's unbranded hotels. Forte will retain more than 50 of the more upmarket Forte Heritage outlets, which will be targeted for accelerated refurbishment.

The aim will be enhanced service at the chain, which is aimed mainly at the leisure market.

The group said yesterday that County Hotels would be promoted independently of the Forte name, with all options open. These included a joint venture, flotation or outright sale.

A spokeswoman said the new, smaller Forte Heritage would also be easier to manage.

The repositioned Forte Heritage will also include a number of Forte Grand hotels, including The Compleat Angler at Marlow, Bucks, and Leeming House, Ullswater, Cumbria, to underpin the premium image.

Mr Forte said: 'The rebranding exercise provides us with an excellent platform to build upon. This refining by the new management will significantly enhance the brand's impact.'

Said one analyst: 'It is well known that dozens of Rocco Forte's hotels are up for sale. This seems to just tidy up the package. In strategic terms it is not that significant.

'The market is still more interested in what it will do about its debt and whether there will be an eventual rights issue.'

The group has pounds 1bn of debts, with another pounds 450m of off-balance- sheet debt expected to come back on to the balance sheet early next year.

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