Blackstone is paying a 13% premium to acquire a US hotel REIT for $6bn (€5.37bn).
Strategic Hotels & Resorts, which owns 17 American hotels and resorts, is being acquired outright by the private equity group at $14.25 per share in cash.
The offer price represents a premium of approximately 13% over the intra-day trading price on July 23. Blackstone will assume outstanding debt.
Tyler Henritze, co-head of US acquisitions for Blackstone Real Estate, said described the REIT’s holdings as “one of the highest quality luxury hotel portfolios in the US”.
He said: “As long-term investors in the lodging industry, we remain confident in the fundamentals of the sector despite recent market volatility.”
Blackstone famously took Hilton Hotels private in 2007 before selling the business in 2013.
Last month, Strategic Hotels & Resorts confirmed it was exploring a sale of its business.
Raymond Gellein, chairman and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, said: “Our board and management team have consistently stated that we would consider any opportunity that maximises stockholder value.
“We believe this transaction capitalises on our unique portfolio, strong asset management platform and continued operating outperformance over the past several years.
“The board thoroughly considered various alternatives over the course of the past few years, and this all-cash offer from Blackstone creates significant stockholder value with a high degree of execution certainty.”
