A strategic review at Jurys Inn is likely to take place in the first quarter of next year, according to a weekend report.
Options expected to be considered include a sale valuing the company at more than £700 million, a merger with a rival hotel company or securing fresh backing from a new investor.
Jurys Inn, which runs 31 hotels, has hired Credit Suisse and property specialist Eastdil Secured to advise on strategic options less than two years after undergoing a financial restructuring, the Sunday Times reported.
The Dublin-based group shed £300 million of liabilities under the deal, leaving it with debts of £240 million.
Its main lender, RBS, became a shareholder after swapping some loans for equity. New investors, including Westmont Hospitality and New York hedge fund Mount Kellett, also came on board after injecting £120 million of fresh capital.
The company’s biggest shareholders remained the Oman Investment Fund and Dublin-based Avestus Capital Partners.
Jurys Inn is understood to have performed strongly since then, and is on course to deliver record sales and profits this year, according to the newspaper.
The company has invested in refurbishing bedrooms, adding meeting spaces and overhauling food and drink operations, including introducing Costa coffee shops.
Most of the chain’s hotels are in the UK, although it operates in Ireland and Prague.
A deal to rebrand three of its prime London hotels under the Hilton name was agreed a year ago, although it continues to operate them.
An agreement involving Jurys would be the latest in a series of transactions across the hotel industry in the past couple of years. KSL, the American firm behind Hotel du Vin and Malmaison, is reported to have hired UBS to consider a possible sale of the two chains.
Last month KSL acquired Village Urban Resorts for almost £500 million. The deal was the final stage in the break-up of the De Vere hotel empire. Other operators that have changed hands include Principal Hayley.
InterContinental Hotels last week announced the sale of its Paris property for €330m to Constellation Hotels, a Qatari company that previously bought the chain’s main London hotel on Park Lane.