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LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Britain's fourth-largest hotel operator Thistle Hotels Plc, which is 46-percent owned by Singapore-based Brierley Investments Ltd (BRY.SI), on Monday poured cold water on the idea it was about to be taken over.

Responding to recent gains in its share price and press speculation, Thistle said in a statement it was "not in formal discussions with any party regarding a possible offer".

Shares in Thistle, which have outperformed the leisure, entertainment and hotels sector by more than 28 percent in the past year, slipped back from its early highs to stand one penny higher at 158-1/2 pence at 1125 GMT -- valuing the group around 764 million pounds ($1.1 billion).

On Saturday, the Times newspaper said Guy Hands, managing director of Nomura's (9716.T) Principal Finance Group, was to launch a fresh one billion pound-plus bid for Thistle Hotels, should he fail to win the 3.0 billion pound Forte hotel auction.

Hands had tried to buy Thistle for some 1.7 billion pounds in 1998, the paper added. Compass Group Plc (CPG.L), the catering to hotels company recently demerged from media group Granada Plc (GAA.L), is looking to sell its Forte hotels division to focus on being the world's largest catering business.

The Times said Brierley was keen to sell its stake in Thistle -- Brierley's biggest investment -- and may have lowered its previous price expectations of about 200 pence per share.

In a trading update last month Thistle, the largest hotel operator in London, said turnover in 2000 had increased by 6.5 percent to 324.6 million pounds as a strong second half more than offset a difficult start to the year.