This Is What Marriott Has to Do to Keep Starwood From Anbang
Skift Take
As we've noted before, Starwood is Marriott's to lose. Now that Anbang has upped the ante, we have to see just how much Marriott is willing to spend to keep it, or if it's willing to let Starwood run into the arms of Anbang and company.
If you're Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson, you have to imagine this is going to be a busy week filled with a lot of closed-door meetings. At stake is whether or not his company can hold onto its already tenuous acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts after a new, more attractive all-cash bid came in, yet again, from Anbang Insurance Group and its consortium.
This time, Anbang and its investor group made up of J.C. Flowers & Co. and Primavera Capital Ltd., are offering $13.8 billion, or $82.75 per share, in cash for Starwood. At the moment, this deal is currently non-binding and not yet fully financed, but both Starwood and Anbang are actively engaged in conversations to work out all the details.
This new bid is just one of many overtures (six, to be exact) that Anbang has made to Starwood over the course of nearly a year, as far back as May 2015. And if Anbang's long pursuit of Starwood has shown us anything, it's that Anbang is doggedly determined to do all it
