Starwood bidding war escalates with $14bn Chinese offer
The move from Anbang Insurance Group is the latest offer in the escalating bidding war for the global hotel group.
Marriott confirmed in a statement that it is standing by its $13.6bn offer and said it was ‘confident’ that the previously announced merger was the ‘best course for both companies’.
It also questioned Anbang's financing and warned Starwood’s stockholders to give ‘serious consideration’ to the possibility that the Chinese group would be unable to close the deal.
Though Starwood’s board is ‘considering’ the offer, it has not changed its recommendation in support of the company’s merger with Marriott.
If successful, Marriott’s takeover of the group would create the world’s largest hotel company with a total of 1.1m rooms across more than 5,500 sites.
“The combined company will offer stockholders significant equity upside and greater long-term value driven by a larger global footprint [and a] wider choice of brands for consumers...leading to accelerated global growth and continued strong returns,” said Marriot in a statement.
The company also announced that it has adjourned a planned vote by stockholders on the acquisition to 8 April.
Following the completion of the proposed merger Marriott plans to accelerate the growth of Starwood’s brands, which include Sheraton and Aloft.
