Hilton, CNL in Hotel Venture

Hilton Hotels Corp., the third-largest U.S. hotel company, formed a $400-million venture with CNL Hospitality Corp. to buy and refurbish hotel properties, as it seeks to boost its management fee income.

The venture has already bought the 500-room Doubletree hotel in Dallas and the 428-room Sheraton El Conquistador Resort in Tucson from MetLife Inc. for $121 million, and has agreed to buy five more hotels, said Hilton spokesman Marc Grossman.

CNL Hospitality is the hotel investment and development unit of CNL Financial Group Inc., which owns $5.3 billion in real estate.

Hilton shares rose 10 cents to $12.65 on the NYSE.