Hilton Group, owner of the Hilton international hotel chain and bookmaker Ladbroke, today sold its hotels division back to its former owner, US-based Hilton Hotels Corporation, for £3.3bn ($5.71bn).

Hilton Group, which will be renamed Ladbrokes plc once the deal completes, said it will return a "substantial" amount of cash to shareholders early in the second quarter of 2006 following a review of the appropriate capital structure for the new Ladbrokes plc.