InterContinental and Marriott are two of the world’s biggest hotel players. FTSE 100-listed Intercontinental runs over 4,500 hotels worldwide including New York’s Barclay while America’s Marriott operates 3,700 properties.

　　Asking whether the two could “room together”, analysts at Numis thought that “hotel industry c***olidation is inevitable at some stage” and c***idered a merger between the British and American pair to be “just one of the potential tie-ups”.

　　They argued that with InterContinental trading “at an apparently perpetual discount to its US peers”, it looks like a possible target and that a merger with Marriott would “create a dominant player in the global hotel market” with over 9pc of global room supply.

　　The broker calculated that such a deal could be worth $8.7bn (£5.5bn) in total.

　　“The strategic rationale for a merger between InterContinental and Marriott is compelling,” said Numis. “First of all the strategic growth plans for the two businesses are remarkably similar. Both, for example, have had a long-standing focus on reducing hotel ownership and pursuing management and franchise contracts.

　　“Secondly, both companies are pursing global growth opportunities by establishing a strong presence in key gateway cities, continuing to develop in large established markets and looking to expand in emerging markets, notably China.”

　　Numis’s thesis helped lift InterContinental 33p to £14.65 as the market shrugged off its early lethargy. Although Spanish woes had dampened the mood in morning trading C the country’s central bank warned that the economy will continue to shrink C the FTSE 100 managed to tick up 34.8 points to 5,391.14.