UK watchdog probing Hilton, IHG, Marriott, CoStar for data sharing

March 2 (Reuters) - The UK's competition regulator launched a probe on Monday into whether hotel chains Hilton HLT.N, InterContinental Hotels IHG.L and Marriott MAR.O were sharing competitively sensitive information using a hotel data analytics tool, which could potentially make their prices less competitive for the consumer.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the three companies were under investigation along with commercial real estate data and analytics company CoStar CSGP.O which owns a tool providing hospitality data insights.

"...when rival businesses share competitively sensitive information - including through a third-party data analytics provider - this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act. This can affect how strongly companies compete because it makes it easier for

them to predict what each other will do and coordinate their behaviour," CMA said in a statement.

CoStar's hospitality data business STR, provides data on the industry's standard metrics such as occupancy, average daily rates for rooms and revenue per available room, making it easier for hotels to decide room charges, lower costs and match supply with demand.

"We are surprised at the CMA's interest in a long-standing hotel data analytics and benchmarking platform, that for decades has been used by companies and government entities alike to better assess market dynamics," a CoStar spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The company said it was co-operating with the investigation.

CoStar along with Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt H.N and other hotels in September last year defeated a consumer lawsuit in the U.S. claiming they improperly shared revenue and other data to keep room prices artificially high.

IHG said it will co-operate with CMA's inquiries, while Marriott and Hilton did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside U.S. business hours.