PARIS - Goldman Sachs is in talks to buy B&B Hotels from private equity firm PAI Partners, the companies said on Monday, in a deal which an earlier report from the Financial Times said could be worth 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, the bank's investment fund arm, and PAI Partners did not disclose how much the transaction could be worth in their statement.

B&B Hotels had 2018 sales volumes worth 580 million euros, and it runs a network of 476 hotels, competing with the likes of Accor.

The global hotels industry has recently shown signs of solid growth, with Marriott issuing a relatively upbeat outlook earlier this month while Accor also expressed confidence over its 2019 outlook in April.

($1 = 0.8962 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Inti Landauro) ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84;))