Blackstone Group to sell Strategic Hotels for $6.5bn

Anbang last year bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York

Blackstone Group LP has agreed to sell Strategic Hotels & Resorts to Anbang Insurance Group of China.

According to Bloomburg Business, the deal will be valued at $6.5 billion and comes just three months after Blackstone purchased the US luxury-resort company.

The price is about $450 million more than Blackstone paid for Strategic in December.

The New York-based private equity firm had been expected to sell individual properties in the portfolio.

However, Anbang made a pre-emptive offer for the entire company.

The transaction marks a deeper push into United States hospitality for Beijing-based Anbang, which last year purchased the landmark Waldorf Astoria in New York.

It would rank as the largest U.S. real estate purchase by a buyer from mainland China, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.