Fresh from the success of its SeaWorld spinoff back this past spring, Blackstone Group (BX) is fluffing the pillows on another IPO.
On Thursday, the private equity powerhouse filed papers with the SEC to launch an initial public offering of Hilton Worldwide, the hotel group it took private in 2007, in a monster $26 billion, all-cash transaction. Most news outlets are describing the deal as a $1.25 billion IPO, but while that may well be the value of the stock sold, in fact, this is a much, much bigger deal than just that.
According to Hilton's S-1 filing with the SEC -- which filing is not complete yet, and subject to amendment -- the Hilton IPO will feature:
- 10 award winning hotel brands ...
- containing more than 665,000 rooms for rent ...
- serving 125 million guests annually ...
- of whom 38 million are loyalty club members ...
- who, even with discounts, help Hilton rack up $9.4 billion in annual revenues ...
- and $427 million in net profits.
As for how much Hilton will sell for, and whether Blackstone will make a profit on its investment, that remains to be seen. As of today, the company's S-1 filing does not state how many shares will be offered at IPO, how many shares will be outstanding post-IPO, or how much any of these shares might cost to buy.
