Hilton Records Largest-Ever Hotel IPO

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Hilton Worldwide raised $2.35 billion yesterday in the biggest ever hotel initial public offering.

The company and existing shareholders sold approximately 117.6 million shares for $20 each, according to an announcement. The company offered 112.8 million shares priced between $18 and $21 each.

Hilton was shy of the $2.37 billion it expected to raise, but still surpassed the previous largest hotel IPO of $950 million raised by Hyatt Hotels in 2009.

Private equity giant Blackstone Group purchased Hilton in 2007 for $26.7 billion before the financial recession. Since then, occupancy levels have improved and Blackstone now hopes to profit from the hotel market recovery, analysts say.

"Hilton has been focused on re-establishing its industry leader status," Lukas Hartwich, lodging analyst at Green Street Advisors Inc., a Newport Beach, California-based research firm, said in a report. "Future growth has shifted to primarily non-U.S. markets."

Hilton will have a stock-market value of approximately $19.7 billion, based on the IPO price, surpassing Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Marriott International Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corp., Bloomberg reports.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to repay approximately $1.25 billion of outstanding debt.

Hilton operates in 90 countries, with 10 brands, more than 4,000 hotels and more than 650,000 hotel rooms in its portfolio.