NEW YORK CITY Blackstone Group LP is reportedly organizing the financial records of Hilton Worldwide in a preliminary step toward floating the company on the international markets.
There is no timetable for the floatation, according to a report in The Independent of London, but Blackstone is said to have accountants poring over Hilton’s books to bring them up to international financial reporting standards. Blackstone is leaning toward selling Hilton Worldwide as a complete unit, according to the report; previously, the private equity giant was thought to be open to unloading Hilton in pieces.
“This is a long process of preparation. The focus is getting the timing right, so that if you wake up one morning and decide to go for it, you can,” an unnamed source, identified as being “close to the two groups,” tells the newspaper.
Blackstone acquired Hilton in a US$26 billion deal nearly four years ago, at the top of the market, in a highly-leveraged deal that would have been nearly impossible in the current financial climate.