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🔴 PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Motel 6
budget hotel · Dallas, TX
PE Firm
Blackstone Group
Year Acquired
2012
“Blackstone left the light on — for ICE agents checking guest lists.”
The PE Playbook
- •Under Blackstone ownership, employees at multiple locations shared guest lists with ICE, leading to at least 20 arrests of Latino guests
- •Paid $12 million settlement in Washington state (80,000 guests' data shared) and $10 million in Arizona discrimination class-action
- •Ranked dead last in American Customer Satisfaction Index for hotels two years running
- •Blackstone sold to India-based OYO in 2024 for $525M after buying for $1.9B in 2012 — tripled investor returns while brand reputation cratered
Since the Acquisition
- ▸Seven locations in Washington state shared personal guest information with ICE immigration agents daily for over two years — without consent
- ▸Roughly 80,000 guests had their data shared; ICE used it to target guests with Latino-sounding names, arresting at least 20 people
- ▸Motel 6 paid $12 million to settle a lawsuit from Washington and up to $10 million more in Arizona
- ▸Blackstone bought Motel 6 for $1.9 billion in 2012 and sold it for just $525 million in 2024 — a 72% drop in sale price