Before the Marriott agreement was forged, Starwood had been reportedly in talks with other lodging giants about a possible sale. The Financial Times reported preliminary discussions between Starwood and Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc in July of 2015, while Hyatt Hotels reportedly made a Starwood bid a few weeks prior to the Marriott/Starwood announcement.

“The driving force behind this transaction is growth,” Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott, said when his company announced that it would acquire Starwood this past fall. “This is an opportunity to create value by combining the distribution and strengths of Marriott and Starwood, enhancing our competitiveness in a quickly evolving marketplace. This greater scale should offer a wider choice of brands to consumers, improve economics to owners and franchisees, increase unit growth and enhance long-term value to shareholders.”

At Starwood, interim CEO Adam Aron said the deal would create “the biggest and best hotel company in the world with tremendous upside potential. The combination of our two companies brings together the best in innovation, culture and execution.” Post-merger, Sorensen will serve in the same leadership capacity of the combined organization, which will be headquartered in Bethesda. Marriott's board will increase from 11 to 14 with the addition of three Starwood directors.

Not included in the merger was Starwood's timeshare business, now known as Vistana Signature Experiences Inc., which Interval Leisure Group acquired in a deal that closed this past May. However, along with the consideration from Marriott for the Starwood Hotels acquisition, Starwood shareholders will receive an additional $7.80 per share from the timeshare spinoff, Marriott and Starwood said last November.

BETHESDA, MD—With the final global regulatory hurdle now cleared, Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide expect to complete their merger before the markets open on Friday. The combined organization will be the world's largest hotel company, operating or franchising more than 5,500 properties with 1.1 million keys worldwide.

That final hurdle was approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, which occurred earlier this week after antitrust regulators in the US, Canada and the European Union, among others, had already signed off on the $12.2-billion combination. Marriott and Starwood announced on August 8 that the Chinese government had asked for up to 60 days' more time to review the merger, first announced last November.

In conjunction with the merger closing, Stamford, CT-based Starwood expects that its shares will cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange before the market opens on Friday. As previously announced, Starwood shareholders will receive $21 in cash and 0.80 shares of Marriott class A common stock for each share of Starwood Hotels common stock.

For a few weeks this past March, the deal threatened to go off the rails amid a series of counteroffers from a consortium led by Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. The Chinese insurer, which earlier had agreed to buy Strategic Hotels & Resorts from the Blackstone Group, dropped its bid at the end of March after bidding as buy as $14 billion to buy Starwood. Anbang cited “market considerations” in walking away from the deal, which Starwood's board was on the verge of considering a “superior proposal” to its revised merger agreement with Marriott.

Before the Marriott agreement was forged, Starwood had been reportedly in talks with other lodging giants about a possible sale. The Financial Times reported preliminary discussions between Starwood and Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc in July of 2015, while Hyatt Hotels reportedly made a Starwood bid a few weeks prior to the Marriott/Starwood announcement.

“The driving force behind this transaction is growth,” Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott, said when his company announced that it would acquire Starwood this past fall. “This is an opportunity to create value by combining the distribution and strengths of Marriott and Starwood, enhancing our competitiveness in a quickly evolving marketplace. This greater scale should offer a wider choice of brands to consumers, improve economics to owners and franchisees, increase unit growth and enhance long-term value to shareholders.”

At Starwood, interim CEO Adam Aron said the deal would create “the biggest and best hotel company in the world with tremendous upside potential. The combination of our two companies brings together the best in innovation, culture and execution.” Post-merger, Sorensen will serve in the same leadership capacity of the combined organization, which will be headquartered in Bethesda. Marriott's board will increase from 11 to 14 with the addition of three Starwood directors.

Not included in the merger was Starwood's timeshare business, now known as Vistana Signature Experiences Inc., which Interval Leisure Group acquired in a deal that closed this past May. However, along with the consideration from Marriott for the Starwood Hotels acquisition, Starwood shareholders will receive an additional $7.80 per share from the timeshare spinoff, Marriott and Starwood said last November.