Starwood, Marriott Merger Back On Track With Improved $13.6B Offer

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. said Monday it agreed to an improved offer from Marriott International Inc. , topping last week’s boosted bid from Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance Group Co. Mariott’s new offer values Starwood, which just signed the first U.S.-Cuba hotel deal in nearly 60 years, at $13.6 billion.

Marriott's cash-and-stock deal offered Starwood shareholders $21 in cash and 0.8 shares of Marriott for each share of Starwood, which adds up to $79.53 per share. Marriott expects the transaction to be roughly neutral to adjusted earnings per share in 2017 and 2018.

Monday’s offer beat China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. rival offer of $78 per share announced last week. U.S.-based Marriott had made a $67.22 per share offer — at current values — in November.

Starwood’s board determined that revised terms from Marriott, which owns more than 4,087 properties in more than 80 countries and territories, constitute a superior proposal to the Anbang group offer, according a joint press release Monday. The companies said that the merger would help save the companies about $250 million annually in cost synergies within two years of closing the deal.

Shareholders of Starwood, which owns more than 1,200 properties and employs more than 180,400 people, would own approximately 34 percent of the combined company’s common stock if the new proposal is executed. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2016 if all necessary approvals are received, the companies said.