Thistle Hotels of the UK has reached an agreement to sell 37 of its hotels for £600m (€971m) in a deal that will be refinanced by a securitisation of the portfolio of hotels.

Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank are working for Thistle, which is 45.9% owned by BIL, the Singaporean investment company. Both banks have long-term relationships with Thistle. The hotels will be sold to Gamma Four, a subsidiary of venture capital group Euro & UK Property, which is parent to Orb Group.