Blackstone Acquires Hilton Hotels in $26B Leveraged Buyout

Consumer Discretionary · United States · $26B ($47.50/share)

Blackstone acquired Hilton Hotels Corporation in an all-cash $26 billion leveraged buyout, announced July 3, 2007 and closed in October 2007, at the time the largest LBO ever completed. The deal was financed with $20.5 billion in debt and $5.6 billion in Blackstone equity. Blackstone installed Christopher Nassetta as President and CEO days after closing and transformed Hilton into an asset-light global operator. Blackstone took Hilton public again on December 11, 2013 in a $2.35 billion IPO, then the largest hotel IPO in history, and fully exited its remaining stake by 2018 (including a 2016 sale of a 25% stake to HNA Group for $6.5 billion), realizing an estimated $14 billion profit, more than tripling its original investment. Jonathan Gray, who led the deal for Blackstone, has served as Chairman of Hiltons Board since 2007.