Editing Hilton Worldwide (section)

=== 21st century ===
[[File:Christopher J Nassetta, President & CEO, Hilton Worldwide (14004654374).jpg|thumb|Christopher J. Nassetta, Hilton Worldwide President and CEO, in 2004]]
In 2001, Hilton agreed to sell Red Lion to WestCoast Hospitality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hilton Sells Red Lion, Select Doubletrees To WestCoast |url=http://www.hotelinteractive.com/index.asp?page_id=5000&article_id=1229 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112175159/http://www.hotelinteractive.com/index.asp?page_id=5000&article_id=1229 |archive-date=November 12, 2006 |access-date=March 23, 2008}}</ref>

On December 29, 2005, Hilton Hotels Corporation agreed to re-acquire the Hilton International chain from its British owner, Hilton Group plc, for £3.3 billion ($5.71 billion). As well as bringing the two Hilton companies back together as a single entity, this deal also included Hilton plc properties operating as Conrad Hotels, [[Scandic Hotels]], and LivingWell Health Clubs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.livingwell.com/about-us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702042545/http://www.livingwell.com/about-us |archive-date=July 2, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=LivingWell Health Clubs}}</ref> On February 23, 2006, the deal closed, making Hilton Hotels the world's fifth-[[List of chained-brand hotels|largest hotel operator]] in number of rooms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 2006 Ranking of the Top 10 Hotel Groups Worldwide / April 2006 |url=http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_2nd/Apr06_TopTenGroups.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031406/http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2006_2nd/Apr06_TopTenGroups.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> Scandic Hotels was sold the next year on March 1 to [[EQT AB]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eqt.se/Page____557.aspx?epslanguage=DE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070330105719/http://www.eqt.se/Page____557.aspx?epslanguage=DE|url-status=dead|title=www.eqt.se|archive-date=March 30, 2007|access-date=March 11, 2023}}</ref>

On July 3, 2007, Hilton Hotels Corp. agreed to an all-cash buyout from the [[The Blackstone Group|Blackstone Group LP]] in a $26 billion (including debt) deal that would make Blackstone the world's largest hotel owner.<ref>Louise Story, "Blackstone to Buy Hilton Hotels for $26 Billion," [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/business/04deal.html New York Times, July 4, 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318070453/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/04/business/04deal.html |date=March 18, 2017 }}.</ref> At $47.50 per share, the buyout price was 32 percent higher than the closing value of a share of Hilton stock on July 3.<ref>{{Citation |last=Weber |first=Christopher |title=Blackstone Group buys Hilton hotels |date=July 5, 2016 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=20070705&id=wNk8AAAAIBAJ&pg=1515,631608&hl=en |work=Bangor Daily News |pages=A4 |access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> The deal was the culmination of a year of on and off discussions with Blackstone.<ref>David Carey & John E. Morris, ''[http://king-of-capital.com/ King of Capital: The Amazing Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108184556/http://king-of-capital.com/ |date=January 8, 2011 }}'' (Crown 2010), pp. 254.</ref> In October 2007, Christopher J. Nassetta was appointed president and chief executive officer of Hilton.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clausing |first=Jeri |date=November 5, 2016 |title=Blackstone goes with Nassetta over Hart as Hilton CEO |url=http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Blackstone-goes-with-Nassetta-over-Hart-as-Hilton-CEO |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916214939/http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Blackstone-goes-with-Nassetta-over-Hart-as-Hilton-CEO |archive-date=September 16, 2016 |access-date=June 28, 2016 |website=Travel Weekly |publisher=Northstar Travel Media, LLC}}</ref> In February 2009, Hilton Hotels Corp. announced that its headquarters were moving from Beverly Hills, California to Fairfax County, Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hilton Hotels Corporation to move headquarters from Beverly Hills to Fairfax County {{!}} Fairfax County Economic Development Authority |url=https://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/pressrelease/hilton-hotels-corporation-move-headquarters-beverly-hills-fairfax-county |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223102545/https://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/pressrelease/hilton-hotels-corporation-move-headquarters-beverly-hills-fairfax-county |archive-date=December 23, 2017 |access-date=December 23, 2017 |website=www.fairfaxcountyeda.org}}</ref>

While Blackstone saw an opportunity to streamline the company and push Hilton's expansion overseas when Blackstone pursued Hilton in 2006 and 2007, the buyout saddled the company with $20 billion of debt just before the [[2008 financial crisis]]. In April 2010, Hilton and Blackstone restructured the debt with Blackstone invested a further $800 million of equity and the debt was reduced to $16 billion.<ref>Peter Lattman and Lingling Wei, "Blackstone Reaches Deal to Revamp Hilton's Debt,' ''Wall Street Journal'', February 20, 2010; Hilton Worldwide press release, April 8, 2010; ''King of Capital'', pp. 299–300.</ref>

Hilton returned to being a public company on December 12, 2013. This second IPO in the company's history raised an estimated $2.35 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cohan |first=William |date=September 11, 2014 |title=Blackstone's $26 Billion Hilton Deal: The Best Leveraged Buyout Ever |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-11/blackstones-hilton-deal-best-leveraged-buyout-ever |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713102828/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-11/blackstones-hilton-deal-best-leveraged-buyout-ever |archive-date=July 13, 2016 |access-date=June 28, 2016 |publisher=Bloomberg L.P.}}</ref> The Blackstone Group retained a 45.8% stake in the company.<ref name="Securities and Exchange Commission" />

The company announced in February 2016 that Hilton would turn its hotel holdings into a [[real estate investment trust]]. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Rubin |first=Liz Hoffman And Richard |title=Hilton to Spin Off Hotel Properties Into Real-Estate Investment Trust |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hilton-to-spin-off-hotel-properties-into-real-estate-investment-trust-1450300095 |url-status=live |access-date=January 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101195059/http://www.wsj.com/articles/hilton-to-spin-off-hotel-properties-into-real-estate-investment-trust-1450300095 |archive-date=January 1, 2016 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

In February 2016, Hilton announced its intention to spin off its timeshare and real estate businesses, creating three independent public companies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ajmera |first=Ankit |date=February 26, 2016 |title=Hilton to spin off real estate, timeshare businesses |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hilton-wrldwide-reit-idUSKCN0VZ1EP |url-status=live |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505200919/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hilton-wrldwide-reit-idUSKCN0VZ1EP |archive-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref> The spin-offs of [[Park Hotels & Resorts]] and [[Hilton Grand Vacations]] were completed in January 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bhattarai |first=Abha |date=January 6, 2017 |title=Hilton completes split into three independent companies |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/hilton-completes-split-into-three-independent-companies/2017/01/06/04414772-d287-11e6-a783-cd3fa950f2fd_story.html?noredirect=on |access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> As of 2018, the company is a fully independent publicly traded company after the exits of Blackstone and HNA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2018 |title=Blackstone Exits Hilton, Earning $14 Billion After 11 Years |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-18/blackstone-is-said-to-plan-sale-of-remaining-stake-in-hilton |access-date=September 26, 2020 |website=Bloomberg.com}}</ref>

On February 7, 2024, Hilton announced an exclusive partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-07 |title=Hilton Partners with Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ To Dramatically Expand Global Luxury Portfolio |url=https://stories.hilton.com/releases/hilton-partners-with-small-luxury-hotels-of-the-world-to-dramatically-expand-global-luxury-portfolio |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=Stories From Hilton |language=en}}</ref>

On April 3, 2024, Hilton announced its acquisition of a majority controlling interest in Sydell Group, the owner of NoMad Hotels, aiming to expand the luxury lifestyle brand with up to 100 new NoMad hotels globally.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Sean |date=2024-04-03 |title=Hilton Takes Control of Sydell Group, Aims to Add 100 NoMad Hotels |url=https://skift.com/2024/04/03/hilton-takes-control-of-sydell-group-aims-to-add-100-nomad-hotels/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Skift |language=en-US}}</ref>