Hilton Worldwide Prices Upsized IPO At $20/share, Said To Raise $2.35 Bln

(RTTNews) - Global hospitality company Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (HLT) on Wednesday priced its upsized initial public offering of 117.64 million shares of common stock at $20.00 per share, just above the mid-point of its estimated range. The offering is said to have raised proceeds of about $2.35 billion. The company's stock is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the ticker symbol "HLT."

Hilton Worldwide said it is offering 64.10 million shares of common stock and a selling stockholder is offering 53.54 million shares of common stock.

The selling stockholder has also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 17.65 million shares of common stock at the IPO price less the underwriting discount.

The McLean, Virginia-based lodging company, owned by affiliates of private equity giant Blackstone Group L.P. (BX), had earlier revealed in an amended Form S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 2 that it will sell 112.82 million shares of common stock at an estimated price range between $18.00 and $21.00.

Hilton Worldwide intends to use the net proceeds from the offering and available cash to repay about $1.25 billion of term loan borrowings outstanding under its senior secured credit facilities. Any remaining proceeds will be used to repay additional term loan borrowings or for other general corporate purposes.

Following the completion of the offering, the company will have 979.80 million shares of common stock outstanding, immediately valuing the company at about $19.6 billion, significantly topping peers such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (HOT), Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) and Hyatt Hotels Corp. (H).

The offering, the largest-ever hotel IPO, is expected to close on December 17. Hilton Worldwide publicly filed an initial registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC for a $1.25 billion IPO on September 12, 2013.

Hilton Worldwide is one of the largest and fastest growing hospitality companies in the world, with 4,080 hotels, resorts and timeshare properties comprising 671,926 rooms in 90 countries and territories.

It was taken private in October 2007 by Blackstone in a more than $25 billion leveraged deal. It then assembled a new management team led by President and CEO Christopher Nassetta to transform its business, creating a globally aligned organization and establishing a performance-driven culture.

Hilton Worldwide confirmed that Blackstone or its affiliates are not selling any shares in the offering or receiving cash in lieu of selling shares. Following the IPO, Blackstone will continue to own a majority of the voting power of shares eligible to vote in the election of directors.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., BofA Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering.