CBS Launches REIT Split-Off; Blackstone Sells First Hilton Stock

NEW YORK CITY—It’s shaping up to be a red-letter day for stock sales in commercial real estate. CBS Corp. said Wednesday it would sell off its 81% ownership in CBS Outdoor Americas Inc., after which the outdoor advertising company would convert to a REIT. Separately, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. on Wednesday filed to sell 90 million shares of Hilton stock currently under the control of the Blackstone Group, which took the hotel operator public last fall. It’s the third announcement of a stock sale by a Blackstone-controlled CRE company in as many weeks.

The CBS Outdoor split-off will take the form of an exchange, in which CBS shareholders can exchange class A or B common stock for shares of CBS Outdoor common stock at a 7% discount. The exchange, which would total 97 million shares, is expected to take place over a three-day period beginning July 7. CBS Outdoor held its IPO in late March, in a stock offering that valued it at about $3.36 billion.