21 Mar 2016
Breaking: Starwood-Marriott merger back on again after Marriott ups its offer
BY Jane Kitchen
The Starwood-Marriott merger is back on again after a rival offer last week led by Chinese insurance company Anbang tried to thwart the deal.
Anbang offered what Starwood determined to be a “superior” deal, but Marriott has increased its offer today to a total of about US$13.6bn (€12bn, £9.5bn), compared to its original US$12.2bn (€10.8b, £8.5bn) offer in November and Anbang’s offer of US$13.2bn (€11.7bn, £9.2bn) Friday.
Under the new agreement, Starwood shareholders will receive US$21 (€19, £15) in cash and 0.80 shares of Marriott stock for each share of Starwood stock. Marriott and Starwood will hold special stockholder meetings on 8 April, with the deal expected to close in mid-2016.
Marriott also said it is confident it can achieve US$250m (€222m, £174m) in annual cost synergies within two years of closing the deal, up from US$200m estimated in November 2015, when the original merger was announced.
“After five months of extensive due diligence and joint integration planning with Starwood, including a careful analysis of the brand architecture and future development prospects, we are even more excited about the power of the combined companies and the upside of growth opportunities,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International.
“...We expect to accelerate the growth of Starwood’s brands, leveraging Marriott’s worldwide hotel development organisation and owner and franchisee relationships,” he added.
Marriott has more than 4,300 properties in 85 countries and territories, and operates and franchises hotels under The Ritz-Carlton, Bvlgari, Edition, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Marriott, Delta brands and more. Starwood has more than 1,270 properties in 100 countries, and operates and franchises the St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Design Hotels, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, Element and the recently introduced Tribute Portfolio brands.
The merger would create the world’s largest hotel company, with 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million bedrooms worldwide across 30 brands.
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