Hilton to Sell Red Lion Chain to WestCoast

Hilton Hotels., the No. 3 U.S. hotel chain, agreed to sell its Red Lion hotel chain to WestCoast Hospitality to focus on its other brands. Terms weren’t disclosed.

With the purchase, Spokane, Wash.-based WestCoast would gain 42 Red Lion hotels with 6,426 rooms primarily in Western states such as Washington and Oregon. The sale includes Five Doubletree hotels with 1,232 rooms that Hilton owns or manages.

WestCoast would double the number of hotel rooms it owns, manages, leases or franchises to about 16,000 with the purchase.

Hilton acquired the Red Lion chain with its purchase of Promus Hotel in 1999. Red Lion, a mid-priced hotel chain with food and beverage outlets, never fit Hilton’s customer base, said spokeswoman Kathy Shepard. Hilton’s other brands include Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn.

Hilton owns eight of the Red Lion hotels, leases 11 and franchises 22. One is run by Red Lion under a management agreement. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.

Shares of Beverly Hills-based Hilton rose 4 cents to close at $8.29 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company owns, manages or franchises about 2,000 hotels. WestCoast was unchanged at $5.97 on the NYSE.