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Marriott and Starwood Announce Merger

Two famous hotel companies, Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will merge into one super big and powerful company. This is quite a rare happening for the hospitality industry. The permission from the Chinese government, namely Chinese Ministry of Commerce, was the final obstacle for the companies. As the approval has been received, nothing prevents the companies from completing the deal.

Merging means losing its identity for one side, and this is what happens to Starwood. The company will remove itself from trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The merger will also make Marriott the biggest hotel company in the world.

The deal was first announced in November 2015, but it took almost one year to get all necessary permissions. Earlier, Marriott received permissions from European Union, Mexico, and other countries where it operates. Chinese government asked for extra time to review the merger. The alliance also faced a slowdown from Chinese consortium Anbang Insurance Group that submitted a competing deal for Starwood. Later, Anbang lost the bidding war. The final deal was made for the sum of US$12.2 billion. Starwood shareholders will receive US$21 and 0.8 shares of Marriott Class A common stock per Starwood common stock owned.

Once the merger is completely complete, the company will have 1.1 million guestrooms operating under 30 brands.

07.10.2016

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