Back in November, I wrote about Marriott reaching a deal to purchase Starwood Hotels & Resorts at around $72 per share. While the deal has been making progress (receiving key regulatory approval recently) the deal wasn't expected to close for another 3-6 months. There was also a provision in the deal which enabled Starwood to receive competing bids from other firms.
Well this morning, there is news circulating that Starwood received an unsolicited bid from a Chinese firm at $76 a share. The name of the Chinese firm has not been disclosed.
Update: The name of the firm has been disclosed and is Anbang Insurance Group who recently purchased the Waldorf Astoria in New York for about $2B. Anbang is also working on purchasing's Blackstone's hotel portfolio in a bid said to reach $6.5B.
While this wasn't out of the realm of possibility, I figured if it was going to happen, it would have happened months ago. The provision enabling Starwood to receive competing bids expires this week (3/17).
It's hard to know exactly if this deal would be "better or worse" as far as SPG members go. I would have to imagine keeping Starwood intact would be better...and given Starwood's strong presence, growth, and loyalty in the Asia Pacific region, I would have to think that would be the firm's objective.
We'll have to wait and see at this point...but certainly an interestingly development!
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