Thistle Hotels, the UK-based hotel company, is believed to be preparing a portfolio of 31 regional hotels for sale with an estimated asking price of £400m. The report explained that the hotels are part of a 37-strong hotel portfolio that was sold by Thistle to Orb Estates for £600m three years ago. These were then sold on to Atlantic Hotels in 2003, before a restructuring that left Atlantic, Thistle and Morgan Stanley, the US-based investment bank, splitting the equity three ways.