The sale of Travelodge could fetch as much as £1.5bn, it was reported over the weekend. With two major US investment funds attempting to outbid one another, the competition has become increasingly fierce, driving up the budget hotel chain’s price tag.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management and property owner Starwood Capital are said to be the frontrunners, according to the Sunday Times, because both have said signalled that they want to acquire both the operating company, valued at around £1bn, as well as Travelodge’s 144 sites, worth another £0.5bn.

The chain is being sold by Goldman Sachs, Avenue Capital and GoldenTree Asset Management, who rescued it from the brink of collapse in 2012.