Hilton files for $1.25 billion IPO in U.S

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., the US based hotel operator owned by the Blackstone Group LP, has filed an initial public offering that it hopes will raise $1.25 billion, as lodging shares trade at close to their highest level in six years, reports Bloomberg.

The world’s largest hotel chain plans to use proceeds from the offering to pay down debt, according to a regulatory filing today. New York-based Blackstone, the world’s largest manager of alternative assets, will own a majority of the voting power in Hilton following the IPO, the filing shows.

At $1.25 billion, the IPO would be the largest for a lodging company and would move Blackstone closer to realizing gains from its biggest single investment, with more than $6 billion of equity invested from its real estate and other funds. The offering coincides with increases in industry revenue and income that have spurred stock gains for hoteliers such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Marriott International Inc. Both are trading close to their highest levels since 2007.

According to reports, after the offering it is predicted that Hilton could be valued at around $30 billion. According to today’s filing, net income at Hilton, which owns, manages or franchises more than 4,000 properties worldwide, rose 39 percent to $352 million in 2012 from a year earlier, on revenue of $9.3 billion,. Hilton increased the number of open rooms by 170,000, or 34 percent, over the past six years, the highest growth rate of any major lodging company, the filing also reportedly shows.