Hilton Hotels agreed to buy the international properties of the Hilton Group of Britain for £3.3 billion ($5.7 billion), reuniting a business that was carved up more than 40 years ago and setting the stage for further overseas growth of the Hilton name.

The deal will bring Hilton Hotels more than 400 international properties and create an empire of nearly 2,800 hotels stretching from the Waldorf Astoria in New York to the Phuket Arcadia Beach Resort in Thailand.

Until the deal on December 29, Hilton Hotels was banned by its 1964 breakup agreement from operating outside of North America, putting the business at a severe disadvantage to peers like Hyatt and Marriott.

The deal “gives Hilton Hotels worldwide control of the Hilton brand,” said Smedes Rose, an analyst with Calyon Securities in New York. It will “allow Hilton to get into markets like India and China, where there has been activity from other U.S.-based lodging companies,” he said.

 ( www.hotelmarketing.com)