Blackstone Group announced it was exploring the sale of its La Quinta hotel chain. The announcement was the latest move by Blackstone to monetize on the hospitality industry's rebound. The private equity firm is also preparing for a much larger sale of Hilton Worldwide. Blackstone's sale of La Quinta is considered as a precursor to a much anticipated public shares offering for Hilton.
Blackstone's valuation for La Quinta hotel was approximately US$4.5 billion. Blackstone acquired the hotel chain for US$2.3 billion back in 2006. The firm had devoted hundreds of millions in investments to improve the chain's overall operations.
Sources close to Blackstone said the New York City-based firm have already appointed Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan to examine both a possible public shares offering and a private sale of the company. A deal for the sale of La Quinta could happen before the year ends, according the the sources.
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