Chinese insurance consortium Anbang has abruptly dropped its $13.8 billion takeover bid for Starwood Hotels, leaving the likelihood that the previously-planned merger with Marriott will now take place. The walkoff, just as surprising as the bid, might almost seem like an April Fools joke...but it's real.
Starwood and Marriott are holding a joint investor meeting and webcast this morning (April 1) to discuss the state of the merger. An announcement could come from that later today. Since during the months that the original merger was expected most of the regulatory review was completed and other steps taken, a merger could take place fairly quickly, perhaps on the original schedule of mid-2016.
For more details from USA Today, click HERE
Photo by Callelinia / Wikimedia: Hotel Inglaterra, Havana. Starwood's just signed up to manage it.
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