rbs

Last month we heard that the Royal Bank of Scotland was looking to unload some art but the bank may be selling an even more valuable asset, the Grosvenor House hotel in London. The Grosvenor House is operated by Marriott and is the setting for some of the UK's biggest award ceremonies, is set to be put up for sale. The five-star hotel opened in 1929 and became a JW Marriott Hotel in September 2008 after a major restoration.

The hotel could sell for between £600m and £700 million. The Telegraph reports that that property agent CBRE is being lined up to handle the sale and it could hit the market this month. The question of course is who's buying? Travel and tourism is still sluggish and RBS has tried to sell the hotel several times before, most notably to several Middle Eastern investors. Breaking Travel News says that London commercial property has been on the rise in recent months which means that for RBS is might be the right time to test the waters once again.

More and more art collections held by financial institutions seems to be making their way to market. Once an art collection held by a business was considered an investment and a sign of status. Lately it's looking more and more like a liability. The Royal Bank of Scotland is reportedly looking at selling parts of its £10m to £15m art collection when the art market improves. The move is part of an overall trend in having state-owned banks get rid of anything not essential to doing business.

The collection of the bank, which is majority owned by the UK Government, includes pieces from artists LS Lowry, Anne Redpath, Jack Vettriano, Patrick Caulfield and Peter Howson. The bank inherited many of the pieces through a merger with NatWest in 2000. The bank is planning to loan out some of the pieces to public galleries next year including The National Galleries of Scotland and The National Gallery, The art is currently mostly displayed on office walls but with around 400 of its existing 2,250 banking and insurance branches in England and Wales closing there will be a lot less wall space available.

A spokeswoman for the bank as quoted in the Wall Street Journal said that the bank will not sell pieces that are of historical importance or that national galleries might wish to exhibit. Other pieces however may be up for sale if it is deemed that the market is strong enough and a good price could be realized.