Marriott International Inc will buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $12.2 billion to create the world’s largest hotel chain with top brands, including Sheraton, Ritz Carlton and the Autograph Collection.
The combined company will own or franchise more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide and give Marriott greater presence in markets such as Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Marriott currently has three-quarters of its rooms in the US. Starwood, which also owns St. Regis and Aloft hotel brands, gets nearly two-thirds of its revenue from outside the country.
“We have been in the business for a long time but Starwood is more global than Marriott is,” said Marriott Chief Executive Arne Sorenson, who will lead the combined company.