Page 24 - Aruba Today
P. 24
A24
BUSINESSTuesday 22 March 2016
Starwood battle to have little impact on price of rooms
NEW YORK (AP) — The bid- The revised deal would
ding war over the Starwood
hotel chain is being closely give Starwood sharehold-
watched by investors and
frequent business travelers. ers $21 in cash and 0.80
For the leisure crowd, how-
ever, who owns their hotel shares of Marriott Interna-
makes very little difference.
Starwood said Monday it tional Inc. Class A stock
has accepted a sweet-
ened $14.41 billion bid from for each Starwood share.
Marriott, just days after a
Chinese insurance com- Starwood shareholders are
pany appeared to steal it
away from the hotel chain also expected to get In-
with an offer valued at
$14.15 billion. terval Leisure Group stock
Shares of Starwood Hotels
and Resorts Worldwide, valued at $5.83 per share.
which traded at $60 in ear-
ly February, were at $83.80 Taken together, that would
in morning trading Mon-
day. Marriott shares are value Starwood stock at
up 23 percent in the same
time frame. $85.36 per share, or about
The buyout would create
the world’s biggest hotel $14.41 billion.
company and give Marriott
a stable of tony properties Anbang’s offer is for $83.83
run by Starwood, like the St.
Regis New York. Until share- for each Starwood share,
holders of both companies
vote on April 8, there could or approximately $14.15
still be a counteroffer from
China’s Anbang or a bid billion. Marriott has more
from another suitor.
Unlike the merger of air- than 4,400 properties in 87
lines or office supply stores,
this deal should have mini- countries and territories,
mal impact on consumer
choices or prices. under brands such as Ritz-
Marriott and Starwood —
like other hotel chains — Carlton, Residence Inn and
own very few individual ho-
tels. Instead they manage This April, 28, 2014, file photo, shows a Marriott hotel in Cranberry Township, Pa. Marriott wins over Marriott. While Starwood
or franchise their brands Starwood with revised buyout bid to create global hotel giant, announced Monday, March 21, fans would gain access to
to hundreds of individual 2016. more hotels, they are hesi-
owners, often real estate tant about the deal.
development companies. Associated Press Having Anbang buy Star-
Those individual hotel own- merger would add nearly Westin and St. Regis. wood would keep their
ers are responsible for set- 1,300 extra hotels for them Starwood over the week- much-beloved hotel chain
ting nightly room rates. A to stay at. That includes end became the first U.S. independent of Marriott.
developer will often own a many high-end resorts to hotel operator to gain ac- Smaller hotel chains like
Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and use their loyal points at af- cess to Cuba, just as Presi- Starwood and Hyatt have
Sheraton in the same city. ter countless nights on the dent Barack Obama ar- had to fight harder to win
Frequent business travel- road for work. Starwood, rived to Cuba for the first over business travelers and
ers, however, have more based in Stamford, Con- visit by a sitting U.S. presi- therefore offer more ben-
on the line. necticut, owns Sheraton, dent in almost 90 years. efits to their most-frequent
Road warriors try to stay guests.q
loyal to one hotel chain,
First Airbus jet made in U.S.airline and car rental com-
pany because they are
rewarded with more up-
undergoes successful flight test grades and points. Guests
who stay typically 50 nights
a year with the same hotel MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Euro-
chain get free breakfast, pean aircraft maker Airbus
late check-out and often conducted the inaugural
nicer rooms. test flight on its first U.S.-
For Marriott loyalists, this made jetliner Monday,
calling the exercise a suc-
cess after the plane flew
for hours over the Gulf of
Mexico.
The A321 passenger jet
took off and landed at Mo-
bile Aeroplex at Brookley,
site of the company’s new-
plant near downtown Mo-
bile, Alabama.
The three-hour flight over The first Airbus A-321 aircraft assembled in Mobile made its first
the Gulf was to include a se- test flight Monday, March 21, 2016, taking off from Brookley Field
ries of maneuvers and tests in downtown Mobile. Ala.
of all the airplane’s operat-
Associated Press
ing systems. The company it is exciting to know soon in 2013 after selecting Al-
later tweeted that the flight JetBlue will receive its first abama as the location.
was successful. A321 proudly made in Ala- State and local govern-
In a statement, Gov. Rob- bama,” he said. ments provided more than
ert Bentley called the flight The aircraft will be deliv- $158 million in incentives for
a “major milestone” for the ered to purchaser JetBlue the factory, which will em-
state’s aviation sector. in a few weeks after final ploy about 1,000 people.
“Aerospace and aviation preparations. The plant will produce A319
industries are extremely im- Airbus began construct- and A320 aircraft aside
portant to Alabama, and ing the $600 million plant from the A321.q
