GM sales plunge in June
Tokyo: General Motors Corp registered a higher -than-expected 24 percent drop in June sales, and all U.S. automakers lost market share to Japanese car brands. Overall vehicle sales in the US also declined as gas prices rose in a weak housing market.

Sales Toyota Motor Corp. Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. grew on the back of higher showroom discounts.

Nissan was the market leader in higher sales of 18 percent. Toyota's sales gained 6 percent, and Honda's rose 7 percent.

Ford Motor Co. sales were down 11 percent, while Chrysler's fell 5 percent.
Industry-wide first-half sales were down 1.5 percent.
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Blackstone to acquire Hilton
Los Angeles: U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group is acquiring Hilton Hotels Corp. for about $26 billion. Under terms of the agreed deal, Blackstone will pay $47.50 for each share of Hilton, one of the most prominent global hotel brand names, and take on debt. This is a 32 percent premium over Tuesday's closing price. Ahead of the post-close announcement, shares of Hilton had risen 6.4 percent to close at $36.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Blackstone, which raised $4.1 billion in an IPO late last month, said it intends to invest in the Hilton properties and brands globally to grow the business.

Hilton is worth $20.1 billion, based on 424 million shares on a diluted basis at the end of March at the price Blackstone is paying. Hilton said it had more than $7 billion of debt in its January-March quarterly results.
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