04-05-2016, 05:28 PM
The recent bidding war between Marriott International (MI) and a consortium led by Chinese insurance firm Anbang Insurance Group Co. (Anbang) for the rare opportunity to acquire a major international hotel company, namely Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (HOT) is like déjà vu all over again. During 1997, Barry Sternlicht, chief executive of Starwood Lodging Trust (HOT’s predecessor) and Stephen Bollenbach, who led Hilton Hotels Corp. (Hilton), were engaged in a tenacious nine month bidding war to purchase ITT Corporation (ITT), which then owned well-known hotel brands including: Sheraton, Westin, CIGA, Four Points, Luxury Collection and Caesars. At the time HOT agreed to procure ITT for US$14.6 billion, it was a rapidly growing hotel company that one month earlier contracted to purchase Westin Hotel Co. for US$1.8 billion. - See more at: http://www.hotelsmag.com/Industry/Blogs/...XbuaK.dpuf