Chinese firm takes $6.5B stake in Hilton
HNA Group is snapping up a 25 percent ownership stake of the Hilton hotel chain for about $6.5 billion, the latest attempt by a Chinese interest to acquire real estate in the U.S. HNA will appoint two directors at Hilton, expanding the board to 10 members, and will have partial ownership of Hilton’s planned spinoffs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company is acquiring its stake from the private equity firm Blackstone, which now has an approximately 21 percent interest in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Average retail gasoline prices in the Pittsburgh region sat around $2.43 a gallon Monday morning, down about 1 cent a gallon in the last week, according to GasBuddy’s survey of more than 700 stations in southwestern Pennsylvania. That compares with a national average of $2.22, which is about flat from the previous week. Pittsburgh prices are 6 cents a gallon higher than one year ago but 91 cents a gallon lower than this time in 2014. The autumn season is expected to bring lower demand and a cheaper blend of gasoline that refineries produce for winter driving, GasBuddy analysts have said.