Strategic Hotels & Resorts Agrees To Be Acquired By Blackstone For $14.25/Share

(RTTNews) - Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (BEE) Tuesday said it has entered into a definitive agreement with affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII L.P., for Blackstone to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc., for $14.25 per share in cash, and all of the outstanding membership units of the company's subsidiary, Strategic Hotels Funding L.L.C., not held by the company, for the same amount per unit in cash.

Including outstanding debt of the company, the total transaction value is about $6 billion. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur by the first quarter of 2016.

The offer price represents a premium of about 13 percent over the unaffected intra-day trading price on July 23, at which point an article was issued reporting a potential transaction for the company.

On August 17, the company confirmed that its Board of Directors had retained J.P. Morgan and was exploring possible strategic alternatives for the Company, including the potential sale.