Hilton to open 25 hotels in UK in 5 yrs

Hilton Hotels Corp., the second- largest U.S. hotel company, said it plans to open 25 hotels with a total of 3,000 rooms in the U.K. in the next five years.

Hilton said it has signed a letter of understanding with closely held Somerston Hotels UK Ltd., which currently owns and operates 34 U.K. Hotels with more than 4,000 rooms.

The agreement marks the second announcement with a U.K. property owner in the last month for Hilton, the company said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire.