US private equity group Blackstone will acquire Hilton Hotels Corp in one of the biggest hotel deals in history, for an impressive 26 billion dollars.

Hilton announced the deal Tuesday, revealing Blackstone agreed to pay 47.50 dollars per Hilton share. That is 32 per cent more than the stock's Tuesday closing price.

The hotel chain, founded in 1919, currently includes nearly 2,800 hotels in 80 countries, with over 105,000 employees worldwide.

Hilton Hotels Corporation owns and operates the hotel chain, as well as the Conrad Hotels and Resorts, Doubletree Clubs and Hotels, Embassy Suites Hotels, Doubletree Clubs and Hotels and the Waldorf-Astoria Collection.

The corporation was founded by Conrad Hilton, great-grandfather to socialite-heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton, in Cisco, Texas. The headquarters are now in Beverly Hills, California.

The company recorded $8.2 billion in sales last year, with profits of $572 million, up 24 per cent from the year before.

New York City-based Blackstone, founded in 1985, is one of the world's largest private investment firms. Last month it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, raising 4.13 billion dollars in the floating of a 13.2-per-cent stake of the company.

The real estate investor, one of the largest in the US, already owns chains such as La Quinta Inns and Suites and the LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels, among others.