(Bloomberg) -- Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. is weighing a sale of a large portfolio of non-core hotels, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate investment trust has interviewed advisers regarding the portfolio sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. While specifics on what properties would be included in the portfolio aren't yet final, the total value may exceed $2 billion, the people said. A Host representative declined to comment.
The company's shares gained on the news, rising as much as 2.1 percent.
Should the portfolio come to market, it'll be the second of its kind that buyers will be able to consider either as a whole or in part. China's Anbang Insurance Group Co., under pressure from its government, has held talks to sell Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., which it bought from Blackstone Group LP in 2016, Bloomberg has reported.
In March, Host, which has a stock-market value of $15.5 billion, bought three properties from Hyatt Hotels Corp. for $1 billion. It also has sold some non-core assets, describing such moves on analyst calls as “value-creation initiatives.”
On a May conference call, Chief Executive Officer Jim Risoleo said the company expected to close on its sale of the W New York for $190 million. Earlier this year, Host completed the sale of the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, and last year it sold the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel at Keystone Crossing for $66 million and the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf for $184 million.
The company has been reinvesting capital in some of its other hotels. During the May call, Risoleo cited renovations at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis and the Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, as well as improvements at the Ritz-Carlton Naples in Florida.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus
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