Fairmont hotels ? including the Fairmont Southampton and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess ? could be sold to a larger hotel chain if a $1.19 billion hostile takeover bid of the hotel group succeeds.

Controversial corporate raider Carl Icahn on Friday announced the $1.19 billion hostile offer for control of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. Bloomberg News reported that Icahn, who already owns 9.3 percent of Toronto-based Fairmont, will buy as many as 29.6 million shares for $40 each, giving him a majority stake.

Fairmont should be sold to a larger hotel chain ?that is able to more effectively take advantage of economies of scale,? according to an Icahn statement on Friday.

He is willing to help the company find a buyer, the statement said.

Icahn, 69, raised $1.6 billion for two hedge funds last year to pursue what he calls ?activist? investing, or pressing under-performing companies to take steps to boost their stock prices. Recent targets have included Time Warner Inc., Blockbuster Inc., where he now sits on the board, and Kerr-McGee Corp.

Fairmont struggled earlier this year as the rising Canadian dollar damped American travel to Canada, where it has 59 of the 88 properties it manages or franchises. Meanwhile, hotel acquisitions are surging with a rise in worldwide travel. This year, 165 transactions totalling $24.9 billion have been announced or completed, up from $12.6 billion in 2004, according to Bloomberg data.

?Fairmont would strongly oppose any partial bid which is coercive by its very nature and does not treat all shareholders fairly and equally,? chief executive officer William Fatt said in a statement.

A call to Icahn?s office in New York wasn?t returned.

Investors are betting that Fairmont?s shares will fetch more than Icahn?s $40 offer. They closed up $1.81, or 4.7 percent, to $40.60 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

?It clearly puts them in play,? said David Katz, an analyst at CIBC World Markets in New York.