Finance

A Chinese insurance giant has made a $13 billion bid to break up the Starwood-Marriott merger (HOT, MAR)

Marriott StarwoodJosé Carlos Cortizo Pérez/FlickrStarwood and Marriott agreed to merge back in November 2015 in a deal that would’ve created the world’s largest hotel chain.

A new bid led by Chinese insurance giant Anbang Insurance Group wants to bust up a merger to create the world’s largest hotel company.

U.S. hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide said Monday it has received a non-binding offer from a “consortium of companies” to buy it for $76 per share in cash.

Marriott said this consortium was led by Chinese insurance giant Anbang Insurance Group.

The news comes just months after Marriott International agreed to buy Starwood for $12.2 billion to create the world’s largest hotel chain.

That deal valued the company at about $72 per share, Bloomberg noted.

Starwood shares rose by as much as 7% in pre-market trading after the announcement. The shares had fallen about 13% over the past year.

For now, however, the Starwood-Marriott merger is still on, with Starwood saying in a statement on Monday:

Starwood’s Board of Directors has not changed its recommendation in support of Starwood’s merger with Marriott. The Board, in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, will carefully consider the outcome of its discussions with the Consortium in order to determine the course of action that is in the best interest of Starwood and its stockholders. The Consortium has not completed diligence and there are a number of matters to be resolved in the Consortium’s proposal.

In a separate deal on Monday, CNBC reported that Blackstone Group agreed to sell Strategic Hotels & Resorts to Anbang for $6.5 billion.

(Reuters editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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