Blackstone Hoping to Renegotiate Hilton Debt

I give Blackstone bonus points for attempting to fix its pesky $20 billion Hilton debt problem before the crud actually hits the fan. Apparently, the private equity group is hoping to convince holders of the debt to make some minor adjustments, like swapping their crappy debt for crappier equity, or extending maturities out even further, maybe until 2050 when the commercial real estate market starts booming again. Blackstone is even offering to contribute $800 million in additional equity to buy back debt at a discount. So many fancy accounting and financing tricks, so little time. The problem is it is hard to escape a turkey of a deal like the Hilton LBO, that was struck during the fairy tale days of the credit bubble. Unfortunately, it is hard for us to escape the Hilton LBO as well, for the Fed owns $4 billion in Hilton bonds, courtesy of Bear Stearns, via that awesome $29 billion risk-free loan the Fed gave to JP Morgan so it could purchase the more solvent portions of Bear. The only good news is that the terms of the debt limit Blackstone's ability to repurchase Hilton debt.

Blackstone is hoping to cut the debt load by $5 billion, as I'm sure that will make its equity portion worth more. After already writing off the investment by two-thirds, Blackstone needs all the help it can get to make its investors whole. I wish them luck with their negotiations. Personally, as a senior debt holder, I'd tell them to take a hike. Maybe cough up another $5 billion in equity? Then we can talk.

Mr. Bernanke is probably just getting a phone call right now from Steve Schwarzman asking him to take a haircut on the Fed's Hilton debt. Mr. Bernanke wonders out loud "How'd we wind up owning Hilton bonds?" An assistant whispers something in his ear. He sighs, then picks up the phone to call Blackrock, to find out what to do...