Troubled council catering giant Compass has sold off part of its business for £1.822bn.

The company's travel concession catering business, SSP, has been sold – together with its motorway services business Moto – to a consortium led by the Macquarie Bank. Compass, whose subsidiary Scolarest provides catering in British and Irish schools and colleges, plans to use £275m from the sale to plug a deficit in British pension plans, and around £700m to reduce the group's net debt.