() is one of the leading global hospitality companies. As of April 2007 there are 2,645 hotels and 485,000 rooms employing 105,000 people in more than 80 countries. The company owns, manages or franchises a portfolio of brands, including Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection. It was founded by
Conrad Hilton in
Cisco ,
Texas and now has headquarters in
Beverly Hills ,
California .
Aiming to offer top class service to its guests, Hilton has become a leader in the
Hospitality Industry . The company is around 5% owned by the founding family.
On
July 3 ,
2007 , Hilton announced plans to merge with the
Blackstone Group in an all cash deal valued at $26 billion USD.
12
The original company was founded in 1919 by
Conrad Hilton .
The
Hotels Statler Company was acquired in 1954 for $111,000,000 in what was then the world's largest real estate transaction.
The company separated its international operations into a separate traded company on
December 1 ,
1964 , known as ''Hilton International Co.''. In 1967
Trans World Corp. , the holding company for
Trans World Airlines , acquired the separated company. In 1986 it was sold to
UAL Corp. , the holding company for
United Airlines , who became Allegis Corp. in an attempted to re-incarnate itself as a full service travel company encompassing
Westin Hotels and
Hertz Rental Cars in addition to Hilton International and United Airlines. In 1987 after a corporate putsch, the renamed UAL Corp. sold Hilton International to
Ladbroke Group Plc , a British leisure and gambling company, which in May 1999 adopted the name ''Hilton Group plc''.
As a result, there have been ''two'' separate, fully independent companies operating hotels under the ''Hilton'' name. Those Hilton Hotels outside the US were, until recently, styled as ''Hilton International'' hotels. In addition, for many years hotels run by the Hilton Group in the US were called
Vista International Hotel s, while hotels operated by the American arm of Hilton outside the US were named
Conrad Hotels . The Vista chain has been phased out, while Conrad is now restyled as one of the luxury brands of Hilton (along with The Waldorf-Astoria Collection) and operates hotels within the US, as well as abroad. To minimize consumer confusion, the American and British Hilton companies, for the last few years, had a joint marketing agreement under which they share the same logos, promote each other's brands and maintained joint reservation systems.
In 1971, Hilton acquired
International Leisure Company , acquiring the
Las Vegas Hilton and
Flamingo Hilton with the purchase.
3
HHC was granted the naming rights to the
George R. Brown Convention Center in late 2003. The
Hilton Americas in Downtown
Houston, Texas , is connected to the convention center.
On
December 29 ,
2005 , Hilton Hotels Corporation agreed to re-acquire Hilton International along with its Conrad Hotels,
Scandic Hotels and
LivingWell Health Clubs affiliates from British-based Hilton Group plc for GBP 3.3 billion (or $5.71 billion) bringing the two groups back together. Hilton Group then re-assumed the name Ladbroke Group plc. On February 23, 2006, the deal closed, making Hilton Hotels the world's fifth largest hotel operator in number of rooms
MGM Consulting .
The ''Waldorf=Astoria Collection'' was announced on
January 17 ,
2005 as a new Luxury Brand.
On
March 1 ,
2007 , Scandic Hotels was sold to
EQT V Group .
www.eqt.se
On
July 3 ,
2007 , Hilton Hotels Corp, agreed to an all-cash buyout from The Blackstone Group LP in a $20.1 billion deal that would make Blackstone the world's largest hotel owner. The private equity group said it would combine cash from its real estate and corporate private equity funds to buy all outstanding Hilton shares for $47.50 each, a 32 percent premium over the July 3 closing stock price. The companies valued the deal at $26 billion including debt.
In
Norway Scandic Hotels, owned previously by the Hilton Hotel Corporation, faced an uproar for refusing to book rooms for a Cuban delegation because of the
U.S. Trade Embargo On The Communist-run Island . The 300,000-member Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees said it would boycott all Scandic hotels in Norway. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said all companies
operating in Norway have to obey Norwegian law. It's expected
the ]
[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/16395787.htm ]
aftenposten
