Blackstone Wrote Down Hilton by 49%

You can check out any time you want, you just can't leave (with your money).

Private equity firm Blackstone Group wrote down its investment in Hilton Hotels by nearly half at the end of 2008, documents obtained by Thomson Reuters' private equity website peHUB show.
The $26 billion deal to buy Hilton was struck at the peak of the buyout bubble in July 2007 and was financed with $20.6 billion of debt and about $5.7 billion of equity. Since then, the hotel market has been hammered by the economic crisis as consumers and businesses have cut back on travel spending.

Blackstone's equity investment in the Hilton deal was $1.45 billion, according to the documents. Blackstone now values its stake in the chain at only $742 million.