Orb Throws Open Hotel Auction

British property and investment company Orb Estates has opened an auction of 37 Thistle branded hotels to potential bidders after a period of exclusivity enjoyed by Reit Asset Management expired.

Interested parties, which include other undisclosed investment companies, property investors and several individual entrepreneurs, are now free to place their bids for the portfolio of hotels after Orb's exclusive negotiations with Reit terminated Monday without a deal, a person familiar with the auction said Tuesday.

New York-based private equity firm Blackstone Group has decided it is not interested in the hotels despite press speculation that it could make a bid, a second person familiar with the situation said. Blackstone may have taken an initial look at the hotels, sources said, but on closer examination concluded that they did not offer an appealing investment opportunity.

The buyout firm has also been mentioned in press reports as a possible buyer of Thistle Hotels plc, a UK-based hotel operator that is searching for a white knight acquirer to help it fend off a hostile bid from Singapore-based investment firm BIL International Ltd.

Orb bought the Thistle-branded hotels that it is now trying to sell from Thistle in March 2002 for £600 million ($938.5 million) in a sale and leaseback transaction.