Starwood accepts revised £9.5bn Marriott bid

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has accepted a renewed bid of $13.6m (£9.5bn) from Marriott International, allowing its proposed merger to go ahead.

The amended deal comes after Starwood said it had accepted a rival bid of $13bn (£9.2bn) from a Chinese-led consortium investors last week, disrupting Marriott’s plans to take over the company.

However, today Starwood said that the renewed bid from Marriott constitutes a “superior proposal” to that of the consortium’s.

Starwood shareholders will own approximately 34% of the combined company’s common stock after completion of the merger, which is expected to be completed by mid-2016.

Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott, said: “After five months of extensive due diligence and joint integration planning with Starwood, including a careful analysis of the brand architecture and future development prospects, we are even more excited about the power of the combined companies and the upside growth opportunities.

Bruce Duncan, chairman of Starwood’s board of directors, said, “We are pleased that Marriott has recognised the value that Starwood brings to this merger and enhanced the consideration being paid to Starwood shareholders.

“We continue to be excited about the combination of Starwood and Marriott, which will create the world’s largest hotel company with an unparalleled platform for global growth in the upscale segment.

The merger of the two companies will create the world’s largest hotel company, with more than 5,500 hotels and 1.1 million rooms across the globe.