Hilton to acquire nearly all of 4 hotels it now manages

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Hilton Hotels Corp. said yesterday that it agreed to buy most of the rest of four Hilton hotels that it already manages from Prudential Insurance Co. of America for $267 million.

Hilton currently owns 50 percent of the hotels in New York and Washington. They are the New York Hilton and Towers -- Manhattan's largest hotel -- the Rye Town Hilton, the Washington Hilton and Towers and the Capital Hilton.

Prudential said the hotel stakes were owned by its $1.9 billion-asset PRISA fund, a real estate portfolio that the financial services company manages on behalf of 80 pension funds. The sale will leave the fund with stakes of less then 2 percent in each of the properties.

For Hilton, the purchase helps it consolidate ownership of its so-called trophy hotels, which include New York's Waldorf-Astoria and Chicago's Palmer House.

The 10 trophies account for about 60 percent of Hilton's hotel profits.

Last month, Hilton agreed to buy the majority of Prudential's 67 percent ownership in the Chicago Hilton and Towers and its 50 percent stake in the San Francisco Hilton and Towers for $163 million. Prudential also agreed to acquire Hilton's 10 percent stake in the Miami Airport Hilton for an undisclosed amount.

Pub Date: 9/24/96