A week ago, most Americans had never heard of an insurance company called Anbang — now the Chinese firm could very well be the next owner of Starwood Hotels.According to CNBC, Starwood has accepted Anbang’s bid of $78 per share, or a total of $13.2 billion (which is a hair higher than Anbang’s initial bid of $76 per share). The CNBC article states that “Hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will be acquired by Chinese insurer Anbang,” but it’s not quite as simple as that.Marriott now has five days to respond with a higher bid, in which case a bidding war will likely begin, giving both companies an opportunity to compete for Starwood and its beloved SPG program. According to CNBC’s sources, Marriott does plan to make a counter-bid, so saying that Anbang will acquire Starwood definitively seems a bit premature.Investors are indeed expecting a bidding war — Starwood’s share price has now climbed above the Anbang offer price to over $80 per share in pre-market trading, and it could jump beyond that throughout the day. Of course, it’s still unclear what this news means for Starwood Preferred Guest and your Starpoints — stay tuned!Which company do you want to acquire Starwood?[card card-name=‘Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express’ card-id=‘22034416’ type=‘javascript’ bullet-id=‘1’]Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.
