Starwood Hotels and Resorts has confirmed it has received an “Unsolicited Acquisition Proposal” from a Chinese-led consortium, valuing the group at around $13 billion or $76 per share.
Starwood says it has been in discussions with the consortium, led by Chinese insurance giant Anbang, since March 11, and has until March 17 to consider the proposal, under the terms of the merger deal agreed with Marriott International late last year (see news November 11, 2015).
According to the press release Starwood’s Board of Directors “has not changed its recommendation in support of Starwood’s merger with Marriott”, but will now “carefully consider the outcome of its discussions with the Consortium in order to determine the course of action that is in the best interest of Starwood and its stockholders”.
The group said that “The Consortium has not completed diligence and there are a number of matters to be resolved in the Consortium’s proposal”, adding that “There can be no assurance that discussions will result in a binding proposal from the Consortium or that a transaction with the Consortium will be approved or consummated”.
This week Marriott said that its planned merger with Starwood will see the group double in size in Europe (see news March 8).
For David Churchill’s analysis article “Why hotel mergers have only just begun”, click here.
starwoodhotels.com, marriott.com
Mark Caswell
