Hilton Worldwide confirms return to stock market
The company has confirmed that it has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission in the USA of its intention to raise $1.24b (£783m) in an initial public offering.
Following its acquisition in 2007 by Blackstone for $26b, including $6b debt - in what was the hotel industry's largest private equity buyout - Hilton ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Over the past six years, the company has added more than 1,000 hotels to create a 4,000-strong portfolio across more than 90 countries. In the UK it operates nearly 120 properties under the Waldorf Astoria, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Doubletree by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn brands.
The headquarters, headed by chief executive Christopher Nassetta, are based in McLean, Virginia, near Washington DC, while the UK arm of the business is led by Simon Vincent, who is Hilton Worldwide's area president of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
