Marriott-Led Investors Group to Buy Stake in Ritz-Carlton : Hotels: The proposed deal would bring together two of the strongest names in the business.

A group of investors led by Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc. has agreed to buy a minority stake in Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., Marriott announced Monday.

According to the agreement, the Marriott group would acquire a 49% interest in the Atlanta-based Ritz-Carlton chain and would have the right to acquire the rest over the next few years.

The agreement is to be completed this spring, subject to federal antitrust clearance. The value of the deal was not disclosed. But the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the Marriott group would pay between $150 million and $200 million for the stake in the privately held company.

The proposed deal would bring together two of the strongest names in the hotel business.

“You have the best hotel management company in the world buying what is arguably the classiest luxury hotel brand in the world,” said Joe Doyle, a hotel industry analyst with Smith Barney in New York.

Doyle said Ritz-Carlton, a hotel management firm that owns just three of the 31 hotels in the Ritz-Carlton chain, has lost money at a number of the hotels it has contracts with. He said Marriott would probably be able to assuage the anger of Ritz-Carlton owners by improving profits. For Marriott, he said, the deal would provide an opportunity to enter the luxury hotel market.

There are more than 10,000 Ritz-Carlton hotel rooms in the United States and five other countries. Many of the hotels are operating in the red, and some have defaulted on loans, the Journal reported.

Besides the three it owns, Ritz-Carlton has minority interests in about 10 others. The equity interests are not included in the deal. Rather, they would be retained by a company run by William B. Johnson, the Atlanta developer who controls Ritz-Carlton.

Marriott’s worldwide hotel portfolio includes about 900 properties.

Marriott International stock closed up $1.375 Monday at $32.625 on the New York Stock Exchange.