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Starwood Hotels & Resorts has reaffirmed its commitment to merge with Marriott International after the Chinese-led consortium of investors withdrew its bid.
Anbang – which was leading a consortium of investors consisting of JC Flowers & Co and Primavera Capital – informed Starwood that, as a result of “market considerations”, it has withdrawn its bid of $14bn (£9.8bn), which it made on Tuesday.
Starwood said Anbang has informed the company it does not intend to make another proposal.
The news leaves Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood, which was first announced in November last year, free to go ahead. However, the originally agreed price of $12.2bn (£8bn) has now risen to $13.6m (£9.5bn).
Marriott and Starwood are now encouraging shareholders of both companies vote in support of the merger at respective board meetings on Friday, 8 April.
If the deal goes ahead, it is expected to create the world’s largest hotel company with more than 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million rooms across the globe.
Bruce Duncan, chairman of Starwood’s board, said: “We continue to be very excited about the combination of our two companies and are committed to completing this deal in an expeditious manner.”
Arne Sorenson, president and CEO at Marriott, said: “We are focused on maximizing shareholder value and from the beginning of this process we have been steadfast in our belief that a combination with Starwood will offer the highest value to all shareholders.”
