Blackstone Affiliate Buys Motel 6 For $1.9 Billion

An affiliate of private equity giant Blackstone Group BX has agreed to purchase the Motel 6 budget hotel chain from French parent company Accor for $1.9 billion. The buyer, Blackstone's Real Estate Partners VII fund, already owns Hilton Worldwide. The fund said that it plans to "accelerate the expansion of the franchise base" for Motel 6 and Studio 6. Accor said that it would use the proceeds of the sale to pay down debt and grow its luxury Sofitel and Novotel hotel brands by expanding in Asian, European and Latin American markets. On Tuesday, Blackstone shares have risen around 3% and were last trading at $12.04.