Marriott International is buying Starwood Hotels & Resorts for $12.2bn (£8bn).
The deal will secure Marriott’s position as the world’s largest hotelier, ahead of Hilton Worldwide, which has 4,400 properties. It will increase the number of hotels operated or franchised by Marriott to more than 5,500, totalling 1.1m bedrooms, across brands including Starwood’s W, Sheraton and St Regis and Marriott’s Ritz-Carlton and Fairfield Inn.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts hinted at a sale in April this year, when chairman Bruce Duncan announced plans to explore a “range of strategic and financial alternatives to increase shareholder value”.
Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels Group and a joint venture between Hyatt and a trio of Chinese investors were also in the running to buy Starwood.
