Boston, MA 09/12/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) filed for a secondary offering of its common stock shares. The selling shareholder is Blackstone (NYSE:BX), which took it private in 2007 and later released it to the public in 2013. About 90 million shares are on offer, but underwriters have an option to purchase more shares to cover overallotments. The transaction is expected to loosen Blackstone’s grip in the hospitality company.
The $24.9 billion hospitality company filed with SEC to have secondary offering in which Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), have been tapped as underwriters. The company’s controlling shareholder, Blackstone, will be unloading 90 million shares, but it has allowed the underwriters to get their hands on an additional 13.5 million shares to cover oversubscription. The transaction will narrow Blackstone’s stake in Hilton, but it would still remain as the majority shareholder, even if the underwriters take advantage of the opportunity to cover oversubscription.
Blackstone’s stake in Hilton
If the underwriters exercise their option to acquire an additional 13.5 million shares, Blackstone’s stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) will reduce by 1.4%. However, that will still leave the private equity firm with 55.4% stake in Hilton or 56.8% if underwriters fail to purchase additional 13.5 million shares.
Blackstone took Hilton private in 2007 for about $26 billion, which stood out as the biggest hospitality buyout. However, Blackstone returned Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) to the public in December 2013 through an initial public offering in which shares priced at $20 apiece. That gave the hotel company a market value of $19.7 billion while Blackstone raised $2.35 billion through the IPO.
No proceeds
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) has not priced shares in the planned secondary offering. However, considering that its shares have traded in the region of $25 recently, the value of 90 million shares in the offering is in the neighborhood of $2.25 billion. Hilton will not receive any proceeds from the secondary offering of its common stock shares.
