Starwood Set to Accept Offer From Chinese Firm
In the continuing saga of Starwood’s need to find a buyer that “Explores Strategic and Financial Alternatives to Increase Shareholder Valueâ€, there’s been a new development today. Last week we found out that Starwood had received an unsolicited bid from a Chinese firm, and all eyes were on Starwood to see what they would do.
The shareholders were set to vote on the Marriott/Starwood merger at the end of this month on March 28, 2016 but then the surprising bid from the consortium including Anbang Insurance Group Ltd came in for $12.8 billion, surpassing the $12.2 billion that Marriott had offered.
Today, Starwood issued a press release that the Starwood Board of Directors has determined that the new offer “constitutes a superior proposal” to the one that Marriott initially offered. This is even with taking into consideration that Starwood would need to pay Marriott the $400 million breakup fee owed if Starwood terminated their agreement with Marriott.
So now the clock starts ticking. Marriott has until 11:50pm ET on March 28, 2016 to effectively revise their bid and come in with a higher or more attractive offer.
Because the timeline has been pushed back, the stockholder meeting is being postponed until a later date.
Stay tuned for the next chapter…
