Blackstone Group plans to sell three DoubleTree European hotels for about $1.1 bn

Blackstone Group, the world's biggest private-equity firm, plans to sell some of its European hotels for about €980 million ($1.1 billion), Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Blackstone plans to sell its hotel buildings operated under Hilton Worldwide Holding's DoubleTree brand in London, Dublin and Amsterdam the report said.

Blackstone is the biggest shareholder in Hilton, holding about 46-per cent stake.

Blackstone, the world's largest private equity property investor aims to profit from these sales due to big demand from tourists in Europe.

Founded in 1969, The Doubletree Corporation merged with Promus Hotel Corporation in 1997, and Hilton Hotels in 1999 acquired Promus Hotel, which also owned Doubletree Hotels and other Promus hotel brands, and renamed it DoubleTree by Hilton.

It has more than 450 hotels in over 39 countries and territories around the world.

Hilton Hotels, the crown jewel in Blackstone Group's investment portfolio, was acquired by the equity firm in July 2007 for about $26-billion in cash. (See: Blackstone acquires Hilton Hotels for $26 billion)

The acquisition gave Blackstone, the 575-hotels La Quinta Inns and LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels. Already Blackstone's portfolio includes 2,800 hotels under brands such as Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and The Waldorf-Astoria Collection.

Last May, Blackstone cut its stake in Hiltons to 46 per cent by selling shares in order to raise money to reduce debt incurred from the ill-timed purchase.