It appears that Marriott International has won the bidding war for Starwood Hotels & Resorts simply by playing the waiting game. The Chinese business consortium led by Anbang Insurance Group announced it was backing out of the Starwood deal, where it held the highest bid so far of nearly $14 billion.
There was some speculation that Anbang may face regulatory hurdles in its home country—not to mention some security concerns at select properties in the U.S., but there was no specific reason given for the company’s decision to back away from the deal when it was potentially going to win out.
Unless a new challenger emerges, Marriott’s cash-and-stock offer that currently lies somewhere in the mid $13 billion range will be enough for it to become the new owner of the Starwood name.
Check out the initial update from The Wall Street Journal for more details.
