Blackstone buys Strategic Hotels for $6b

Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, has agreed to acquire Strategic Hotels & Resorts in a deal that will take the hospitality REIT private. The total transaction value is approximately $6 billion. 

In August, Strategic Hotels announced a potential sale. The deal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2016.

Strategic Hotels owns several properties in various high-demand markets, such as Manhattan. Other resort properties are located in Austin; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; San Diego; and Washington, D.C.  This year, the REIT purchased the 250-room Montage in Laguna Beach, Calif., for $360 million. In July, Strategic Hotels acquired the JW Marriot Essex House for $194.8 million and the Four Seasons in Austin for $197 million.

The Blackston