China’s Anbang Insurance Group has withdrawn its $14 billion bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, leaving the way free for Marriott International to buy the Sheraton and Westin hotels operator. Starwood will now accept Marriott’s offer of $13.6 billion. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Starwood shareholders will receive $21 in cash and 0.8 shares of Marriott common stock for each Starwood share. Starwood shareholders will also receive approximately $5.91 per share in the spinoff and sale of its Vistana timeshare business. After the merger, Starwood shareholders would own roughly 34 percent of the combined company’s common stock based on current outstanding shares.
Shareholders of both companies have been urged to vote in favor of the merger, which would create the world’s largest hospitality company, topping 1.1 million rooms and approximately 5,700 hotels globally.
“We were attracted to the opportunity presented by Starwood because of its high-quality, leading global hotel brands, which met many of our acquisition criteria, including the ability to generate consistent, long-term returns over time,” AnBang said in a statement. “However, due to various market conditions, the consortium had decided not to proceed further.”
