BIL denies selling Thistle hotel chain

BIL International has dismissed reports that it has sold its main asset, the British hotel chain Thistle.

British reports at the weekend said BIL, formerly Brierley Investments, had approved the sale of its 46 per cent stake in Thistle for £750 million ($2.57 billion).

But the Singapore-based company said in a statement after the close of the Singapore Stock Exchange on Monday that it had not sold its stake.

BIL shares rose 8.16 per cent on Monday to close at 53c on the Singapore exchange with speculation that BIL had found a buyer.

This year Thistle sold 37 of its 58 hotels to London-based property group Orb Estates in a lease-back deal worth £600 million.

Thistle has been a millstone around BIL's neck since the day it accidentally bought the chain 12 years ago.

BIL was forced to buy all of the then Mount Charlotte in 1990 when a partial takeover bid went wrong and BIL mistakenly took its holding above the threshold for a full takeover. BIL had to borrow heavily.

At the time Britain was entering a recession and the Gulf War had reduced tourism.

- NZPA