Northcott Hospitality International, parent company of the AmericInn Lodging System, is up for sale. The Chanhassen, MN-based firm, which also owns 21 Perkins restaurants and four Houlihan's restaurants, retained a Minneapolis investment banking firm to evaluate the company and look for potential buyers.

Northcott management insists the sale isn't a function of the performance of the company. Rather, CEO Arnold Angeloni says the decision is "a financial and estate planning one. The trust that controls 100 percent of our parent company decided that it was in the best interests of its beneficiaries to diversify their personal assets. That decision has led to this effort to sell Northcott Hospitality."

AmericInn owns or franchises 216 properties.

Northcott isn't the only hospitality company in play. In July, Red Lion Hotels received an unsolicited buyout bid from Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund. The chain is now reviewing that proposal as well as other options.