The payoff surpasses the $2.1 billion generated by Twitters IPO last month. If the banks involved buy the extra shares in the deal the overallotment it will be the second-biggest IPO of the year, behind Plains GP Holdings at $2.9 billion.
Hilton, whose brands include such high-end names as Conrad and Waldorf Astoria, priced its shares at $20 on Wednesday, within the expected range, and gave the worlds largest hotel operator an equity value of $19.7 billion. The stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Blackstone took Hilton private in 2007 for $26.7 billion, including debt, at the height of the market. The financial crisis hit soon after, leaving the company facing a large debt pile due to the leveraged buyout and a recession that hit business. Blackstone refinanced about $13 billion of the hotel chain's debt before launching the IPO.
It also plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repay $1.25 billion in debt.
Blackstone must be wiping their brow knowing that the company had a label since they bought it at the top [of the market], said David Menlow, president of IPO research firm IPO Financial Network. Even with the markets changing the way they have, its been a beneficial outcome for them.
Fortum sells Finnish power grid for $3.5 bn
State-controlled Finnish utility Fortum has agreed to sell its local power distribution grid to a consortium of institutional investors led by First State Investments and Borealis Infrastructure for 2.55 billion euros ($3.5 billion). The price it got for the grid exceeds expectations and it is looking to sell its Swedish and Norwegian networks.