Momentum in the tug-of-war over Starwood Hotels — home to brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — has shifted once again. Only days after China’s Anbang Insurance appeared destined to win with its “superior proposal,” Marriott managed to dig deep with the help of a few billion additional dollars.

Starwood Hotels announced Monday that it had received and agreed to a new amended $13.6 billion deal with Marriott International.

The agreement comes just days after the company had deemed Anbang’s $13.2 billion offer to be superior, suggesting it would terminate its agreement with Marriott. However, the terms of the original $12 billion Marriott deal required that the hotel giant get the opportunity to address any superior offers.

Marriott took advantage of that opportunity, besting Anbang’s offer, and this morning, Starwood confirmed it would move forward with Marriott.

“Throughout this process, our Board of Directors has remained laser‐focused on maximizing value for Starwood shareholders, and Marriott’s revised offer provides the highest value to our shareholders through long‐term upside potential from shared synergies and ownership in one of the world’s most respected companies, as well as significant upfront cash consideration,” Bruce Duncan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, said in a statement.

The newly combined Starwood/Marriott company, which would create the world’s largest hotel business, would include more than 5,500 owned or franchised hotels with 1.1 million rooms in more than 100 countries around the world.

[via MarketWatch]

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