Anbang Makes New Bid for Starwood Hotels

Starwood Hotels operates in about 100 countries; this Four Points By Sheraton property is in Beirut.

BEIJING—In the ongoing bidding war between Marriott International and a consortium led by locally based Anbang Insurance Group Co Ltd., the advantage at the moment appears to be with the Anbang group. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., headquartered in Stamford, CT, said Monday that its board had received a new bid over the weekend from the Anbang group, a US$14-billion all-cash offer that the board said was “reasonably likely” to constitute a superior proposal as defined in Starwood’s merger agreement with Marriott. The Anbang group submitted a non-binding offer this past Saturday to buy Starwood for $81 per share, a proposal that was sweetened to $82.75/share after discussions between Starwood and the group. Starwood said Monday that it was continuing to discuss non-price terms with the group, which also includes J.C. Flowers & Co. and Primavera Capital Ltd. The latest bid from the Anbang consortium is under consideration, and Starwood said there’s no guarantee that its board will agree to a deal with the consortium. The board continues to recommend the revised merger agreement with Marriott, and a stockholders meeting to consider the Anbang offer will be convened on Monday and then adjourned until April 8. For its part, Bethesda, MD-based Marriott said Monday that it was reaffirming its commitments to the merger, which it sees as representing greater long-term value to Starwood’s stockholders. It too will adjourn a meeting of its stockholders until April 8, at which time shareholders in each company are expected to vote on a transaction. Originally announced this past November, the Marriott/Starwood merger would create the world’s largest hotel company, which would operate or franchise more than 5,500 lodging properties with 1.1 million keys worldwide. Post-merger, Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen would continue in the same capacity for the combined organization. The merger appeared to be on track to close until the Anbang group’s surprise bid earlier this month. The bid by Anbang, which follows its acquisition last year of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and its reported acquisition of Strategic Hotels & Resorts from the Blackstone Group, continues the Chinese push into US real estate at a time when hoteliers are moving away from the ownership model. Bloomberg Business earlier this month quoted analyst David Loeb with Robert Baird & Co. as valuing Starwood’s real estate at about $4 billion.