Jan 22 (Reuters) - Private equity fund Blackstone

is readying the sale of Spain-based Hotel Investment Partners

(HIP), which is worth 6.5 billion euros ($6.77 billion), Spanish

newspaper Cinco Dias reported on Wednesday, citing several

unidentified market sources.

HIP owns 73 hotels with 22,000 rooms in Spain, Portugal,

Italy and Greece.

Blackstone is seeking to divest this year either through the

sale of the 65% it owns in HIP or through an initial public

offering, Cinco Dias reported.

Blackstone and HIP did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

Blackstone acquired HIP from Banco Sabadell in

2017.

($1 = 0.9604 euros)