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Granada hotel sale advances
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December 13, 2000: 6:39 a.m. ET
Catering company enters round two of $4.3B hotel auction; annual profit flat
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Granada Compass PLC, the world's largest caterer, said Thursday it took the auction of its hotel business into a second stage after whittling down the number of bidders. The sale is expected to attract offers around £3 billion ($4.3 billion).
Granada's Forte Hotel Group, Europe's third-largest hotel operator, runs 440 hotels in 50 countries worldwide. At least 12 potential bidders are interested in buying the hotels, analysts and media commentators have said, and they have until Jan. 22 to put in an offer.
 Trade buyers, including Bass PLC (BASS), Hilton Group PLC (HG-), Marriott International Inc (MAR: Research, Estimates) and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT: Research, Estimates), are all interested in buying the division, according to various media reports.
Sol Melia SA, the largest hotel chain in the Spanish-speaking world, has bid more than £2.6 billion for the Le Meridien and Posthouse chains, London Sunday newspaper The Observer has reported. French hotel company Accor SA ended talks with Granada Compass in October, which prompted Granada to put the business up for sale officially. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of March 2001.
The company also reported that net profit for the year ended Sept. 30 came in at £590 million excluding one-time items and the costs of investing in digital television and new media. That was unchanged from the comparable figure for the previous year.
Operating profit before goodwill amortization and exceptional items was £928 million. Analysts had forecast annual operating profits of £920 million to £940 million.
The catering and hotels company, formed by the merger in July of media and hotels business Granada with catering specialist Compass, still owns 80 percent of Granada Media, the television arm it spun off in an initial public offering after the merger.
Granada Compass share rose 5.4 percent to 682 pence Wednesday morning. The stock has declined more than 20 percent since its merger.
--from staff and wire reports 
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Granada Compass
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