Choice Hotels Europe (CHE) has sold a 25 per cent shareholding in its Irish joint venture, Choice Hotels Ireland (CHI), to a group of private investors who are backing the company's expansion plans in Britain.
The price paid is understood to be in excess of £900,000 sterling (€1.31 million).
CHE originally took a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture, which was set up in 1998.
Chiswick Property Partnership, a group that involves property developer Mr Paddy Kelly, CHI managing director Mr Frankie Whelehan and a number of other investors, held the other half.
In recent years, CHE's stake has been diluted to 42 per cent and it is now selling a further 25 per cent of its stake. Mr Whelehan said that this was "to allow additional private investors to come on board".
He declined to name those involved but said there were five key investors.
CHI, which already manages 16 hotels in the Republic and has a further six hotels under franchise, is planning to expand into the UK.
Mr Whelehan said the company saw opportunities in the British budget sector in particular and is especially interested in cities such as Bristol, Manchester, London and Glasgow.
"We can link into an existing structure in the UK that is CHE," Mr Whelehan said, noting that CHE currently has 47 properties in Britain.
In Ireland, CHI has 22 hotels operating under three brand names - Clarion, Quality and Comfort. It does not own any of the hotels it operates although the investors behind CHI are shareholders in most of the properties.
Among the 16 hotels directly managed by CHI is its flagship 160-bedroom Clarion Hotel in Dublin's IFSC and the 130-bedroom Limerick Clarion, which opened in August.
Two further Clarion hotels are under construction - a 195-bedroom hotel in Cork and a 285-bedroom hotel in Liffey Valley.
Apart from the four-star Clarions, CHI operates 11 three-star Quality hotels, including a 107-bedroom hotel that opened in Wexford three weeks ago.
The Quality Hotel brand also operates hotels in Cork, Clonakilty, Galway, Donegal, Dublin and Waterford.
The company is also involved in the budget sector in the Republic, operating four Comfort inns. It is completing reconstruction work on a new 98-bedroom inn off Parnell Square in Dublin and is also working on a 150-bedroom inn in Smithfield.
Turnover in terms of the managed estate exceeds €50 million and the company employs 785 people full-time and a further 450 on a part-time basis, Mr Whelehan said.
