Anbang to sell $5.5b luxury-hotel portfolio

Anbang Insurance Group, which was seized by the Chinese government earlier this year, has plans to sell a $5.5 billion portfolio of luxury hotels, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The portfolio consists of 15 hotels, including the Essex House Hotel in Manhattan and the InterContinental Hotels in Chicago and Miami. The Waldorf Astoria is not included in the group of hotels up for sale.

Anbang purchased the properties from Blackstone Group in 2016 for $5.5 billion.

In May, Anbang’s former chairman and CEO, Wu Xiaohui, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of fraud and embezzlement.