Intercontinental Hotels wants to manage hotels - not own them

The company operates 3,500 hotels, including Intercontinental, Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn, and has been hit by the post September 11 travel slowdown.

Most of the UK Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza hotels will be up for sale as will the Intercontinental Paris hotel.

The company will be left with a portfolio of some 50 owned hotels.

The Paris Le Grand will be kept on after its recent multi-million pound refurbishment.

Intercontinental's strategy is to shift from outright ownership to become a broadly-based hotel management and franchised hotels group. It will continue to manage most of the properties it sells.

Shareholders should benefit from the sales through special dividends.

The company's remaining hotels will also be sold off eventually, with more cash returned to shareholders. As part of its ongoing disposal drive, the firm has already sold assets worth �330m and returned �213m to investors.

"We will return more in due course depending on the progress of the disposals," said chief executive Richard North.

News of the sales come as the company unveiled a 55.4% rise in pre-tax profits to �143m.