Blackstone to take La Quinta hotel chain public

Instead of the selling the La Quinta national hotel chain — valued at $4.5 billion — the Blackstone Group has opted for an initial public offering.

Blackstone, one of the largest property owners in the U.S., expects to see higher returns via the IPO, especially after Extended Stay America rose by 20 percent in gains after its IPO earlier this month.

In August, Blackstone was strongly considering selling California-based La Quinta. It enlisted JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley to advise it on the pros and cons of a private sale. But given their other, recent successes, which include the record-setting IPO for retail real estate investment trust Brixmor, Blackstone has gone the public offering route again, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources.

There are La Quinta inns at 17 West 32nd Street in Manhattan and 37-18 Queens Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens.

Another hotel asset of Blackstone’s, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, is set for a $2.25 billion IPO at the start of next month, as previously reported. [Bloomberg News] — Mark Maurer