Blackstone to continue takeover talks with Unizo

TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Blackstone said on Monday it will continue talks with Japanese hotel chain Unizo Holdings on its proposed $1.6 billion takeover bid and plans to make an announcement by Nov. 22.

The U.S. asset manager last month emerged as another bidder for Unizo and warned it would launch a tender offer or explore other options if the Japanese company did not agree to its offer of 5,000 yen a share, valuing the company at 171 billion yen ($1.6 billion)

Unizo in July became a target for a hostile bid by a Japanese travel agent H.I.S. Co in July. The company had at one stage turned to U.S. buyout firm Fortress Investment Group to fend off the bid. But later it withdrew its support for the white-knight offer.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita, editing by Louise Heavens)