
Shares of Hilton Worldwide are available on the New York Stock Exchange as of December 12th, priced at $20 a share. It is the second largest IPO of 2013 in the United States, with nearly $2.3 billion of funds raised for 117.6 million shares. The shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 12th, 2013 under the symbol "HLT". Closing is expected for December 17th, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.Per the wishes of owner Blackstone, the Hilton Worldwide IPO was led by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Blackstone acquired the hotel group in 2006 for $26.7 billion with debt recovery, largely financed through $20 billion loan. Having refinanced, Blackstone today bears a debt of about $13 billion, which it hopes to ease via the entry of the group on the stock exchange and the sale of several hotel properties such as La Quinta chain and a small part of Hilton Worldwide.