Hilton Hotels Corporation, the US-based hotel operator, has sold two of its biggest European hotels to the UK-based property group Tonstate for £417m.

Hilton will continue to manage the hotels – the 1,054-room Hilton London Metropole and the 794-room Hilton Birmingham Metropole – as part of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of this year.

Robert La Forgia, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Hilton, said: “With the expected completion of the sale of the two Metropole properties, our asset sale programme will have delivered more than US$2bn (£1.07bn) in proceeds since early 2005.

“Consistent with our strategy to grow the managed and franchised business and reduce hotel ownership, we intend to place further hotels on the market.” Details: www.hilton.com