Page 24 - ATODAY
P. 24
BUSINESS A25
Monday 21 March 2016
Online lodging service Airbnb opens
Cuba listings to world
MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN people looking to stay in to state-run hotels. Airbnb’s Starwood Hotels and Resorts Chief of Latin American Operations
Associated Press private homes instead of new authorization was an- Jorge Giannattasio speaks to reporters, in Havana, Cuba,
HAVANA (AP) — Online hotels. Cuba has become nounced on the morning Saturday, March 19, 2016. Starwood says it has signed a deal
lodging service Airbnb is its fastest-growing market, of an historic three-day trip to renovate and run three Cuban hotels, returning U.S. chains to
allowing travelers from with about 4,000 homes by Obama to Cuba and the island more than 50 years after American hotels were taken
around the world to book added over the last year. a day after Starwood Ho- over by Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution. Associated Press
stays in private homes in Airbnb had only been al- tels announced that it had
Cuba after the San Fran- lowed to let U.S. travelers signed a deal to run three
cisco-based company use its services in Cuba Cuban hotels, becoming
received a special autho- under a relatively limited the first U.S. hotel company
rization from the Obama Obama administration ex- in Cuba since Fidel Castro
administration, Airbnb an- ception to the half-century took power in 1959 and
nounced Sunday. old US trade embargo on took over the island’s ho-
Airbnb was the first major the island. The expansion tels. Airbnb said world trav-
American company to en- of that license gives Airbnb elers could begin booking
ter Cuba after Presidents the ability to become a in Cuba in April 2, the an-
Barack Obama and Raul one-stop shop for travelers niversary of the country’s
Castro declared detente seeking lodging in private start of operations on the
on Dec. 17, 2014. The ser- homes, which have seen a island.
vice handles online listing, flood of demand from trav- Also on Sunday, Marriott
booking and payments for elers seeking an alternative International Inc. said it
Sherwin-Williams buying rival
Valspar for $11.3 billion had gained Treasury De- lies to rent rooms in their
partment authorization to homes for a few dollars a
CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER In this Oct. 20, 2010, file photo, cans of paint are seen at a Sher- pursue a deal in Cuba. The night, starting in the 1990s.
AP Economics Writer win Williams store in Brunswick, Maine. Paint company Sherwin- hotel company, which is That has become a full-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sher- Williams is buying rival Valspar for $11.3 billion in a move that it based in Bethesda, Mary- blown private hospitality
win-Williams, which has says will expand its reach in Asia and Europe. Associated Press land, said it is in talks with industry, with many Cubans
long claimed to “cover potential partners on the using capital from relatives
the Earth” with its paints, manufacturers of industrial The company has had island. Its CEO, Arne So- abroad and even foreign
is buying rival Valspar for appliances and heating fewer than 10 CEOs since renson, is in Cuba with investors to transform crum-
about $9 billion in a move and air conditioning equip- it was founded in 1866. Val- Obama’s delegation. bling homes into the equiv-
that it says will expand its ment. Sherwin-Williams will spar, which was founded in All hotels in Cuba are now alents of small boutique
reach in Asia and Europe. remain headquartered in 1806, makes primers, stains owned by government hotels.
Sherwin-Williams said Sun- Cleveland, but said the and varnishes that it sells agencies and many are Many websites allow for-
day that it is paying $113 combined companies will directly to manufacturers known for poor service and eigners to book Cuban
a share in cash, a 35 per- maintain a “significant of appliances, construction decrepit infrastructure. For- private homes, known as
cent premium to the clos- presence” in Minneapo- equipment, furniture and eign hotel chains operate “casas particulares,” but
ing price of Valspar’s stock lis, where Valspar Corp. is other goods. It also sells some of the island’s larger none has emerged as a
Friday. It valued the deal based. Sherwin-Williams auto paints under the De and more luxurious hotels, dominant player. Many
at $11.3 billion including manufacturers and sells Beer and Matrix brands. which are running at full ca- travelers still find it hard to
the assumption of about paints and coatings under Sherwin-Williams said it is pacity thanks to a post-de- guarantee bookings and
$2 billion in Valspar debt. its own name and brand borrowing funds from Citi- tente boom in tourism that make electronic or credit
The combined company names such as Minwax, group Global Markets to saw visitor numbers surge card payments. Airbnb is
would employ 58,000 peo- Dutch Boy and Thompson’s help finance the deal. nearly 20 percent last year. promoting its service as a
ple and would have had Water Seal. It operates The acquisition is subject to One of the first openings in solution to those problems
revenue of $15.6 billion last more than 4,100 of its own antitrust review and is ex- Cuba’s centrally planned in Cuba.
year. John Morikis, presi- stores and sells in big home- pected to close by the end economy came when the
dent and CEO of Sherwin- improvement chains like of the first quarter in 2017. government allowed fami-
Williams Co., said the deal Lowe’s and Home Depot. The government sometimes
will enable the companies Morikis was just named requires companies to sell Gas prices jump by 17 cents
to save $280 million annu- Sherwin-Williams’ CEO in parts of their businesses as
ally within two years by October, but has been with a condition of winning an- over past 2 weeks, to $2.02
cutting administrative ex- the company since 1984. titrust approval.
penses and raw-material CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — is part of a trend that has
costs. The savings should The average price of gaso- seen the price spike nearly
reach $320 million in the line has jumped by 17 cents a quarter over four weeks.
long-run, he said. Last year, over the past two weeks, to In the Lower 48 states, the
just 16 percent of Sherwin- $2.02 a gallon for regular highest average price of
Williams’ sales were from grade. regular gasoline was $2.72
outside the U.S. The Valspar Industry analyst Trilby Lund- per gallon in Los Angeles.
purchase would push that berg said Sunday that the The lowest was $1.66 in
figure to 24 percent, the hike is due to growing de- Newark, New Jersey.
company said in a presen- mand for gasoline across The U.S. average diesel
tation to investors. Valspar the nation and higher price is $2.15 per gallon,
also sells coatings to pack- crude oil prices. up about 9 cents from two
aging companies, and to Lundberg says the increase weeks ago.
