Apr. 15--SAIR Group, owner of Swissair, is believed to be in advanced talks with a major Asian hotel group, thought to be Raffles Holdings, about the UKpound 400 million sale of its Swissotel hotel chain. 

Sunday Business revealed in February that SAir had appointed Credit Suisse First Boston to find a buyer for Swissotel, which runs 23 hotels in Europe and North America, including the Howard in London and the Watergate in Washington DC. 

The auction process has been fairly limited, with some leading hotel groups unhappy that they have not been able to participate. 

Swissotel's management had tried to find a financial buyer for the business but are now thought to have agreed heads of terms with an Asian trade bidder, said to be Raffles. 

A spokesman for Raffles declined to comment. However, it is known that the company is looking for acquisitions in Europe. Earlier this year, Raffles, which owns Brown's hotel in London, announced that it planned to meet its growth objectives through merger or acquisition. 

SAir is due to announce preliminary results tomorrow and, as we report on page 16, is thought to be close to appointing CSFB and Deutsche Bank to advise on strategic options. 

WHITBREAD IN HEALTHCLUB SALE: Whitbread, the leisure company which recently sold its pub division, has now put its Curzons health club chain up for sale in a move which could net up to UKpound 20 million. 

The group, which owns Cafe Rouge restaurants and Travel Inn hotels, has decided to sell its 12 Curzons gyms to focus on its larger format David Lloyd Leisure clubs. An information memorandum will be circulated to potential bidders in the next few days. 

Companies likely to be attracted to Curzons, valued by analysts at between UKpound 10 million and UKpound 20 million, include Fitness First, LA Fitness and Crown Sports. Private equity firms may also be interested. 

Curzons was established in 1993, and bought by Whitbread in March 1997 for UKpound 2.8 million when it comprised five clubs. Whitbread has grown the business to a dozen clubs. Last year, it also installed a new management team to run the chain. 

All 12 clubs are in central London, including sites near Liverpool Street and Gracechurch Street in the City. Curzons employs 99 people. 

If Crown Sports buys the business, it would mark the second time Crown's chief executive Steve Philpott has run Curzons. He was responsible for it in his previous post as head of Whitbread's health clubs division. 
 

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