Hilton Hotels

exited

Real Estate / Hospitality — Blackstone

Deal Terms

Entry Year2007

Entry EV$26B

Entry Multiple12x

Leverage6x

Debt Amount$20B

Outcome

Exit Year2018

Risk Metrics

LTV (est.)77%

Debt / EV0.77x

Notes

$26B LBO (2007) — largest hotel buyout ever. $20B debt. Nearly went bankrupt in 2008-09. Blackstone negotiated with creditors, injected equity. IPO'd 2013 at $20B. Blackstone fully exited by 2018 with $14B profit. PE's greatest LBO success story — but it nearly failed entirely.

Sponsor

Blackstone$1270B AUM

Hot Potato History

1946→Public Market (Hilton Hotels Corp)

2007→Blackstone($26B)

2013→Public (IPO)($26B)

Public. Market cap ~$55B. Blackstone's best deal ever — $14B profit. But the timing was pure luck, not skill.