Hilton Group, the UK hotel and gaming operator, is in talks to sell its hotels division to US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) – from which it split in 1964 – for around £3.6bn.

Hilton has confirmed that HHC has made an indicative offer for the hotels, which it is evaluating.

Since the separation, HHC can only function in the US while Hilton International (HI), an operating division of the UK group, owns the rights to the Hilton brand name throughout the rest of the world.

HI operates 403 hotels, however, a global marketing alliance between HI and HHC extends the number of hotels controlled by both to more than 2,500.

Separately, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has emerged as a front-runner in Hilton Group’s auction of the 18 UK and Ireland hotels put up for sale in July for around £400m. Details: www.hiltongroup.com