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Anbang Insurance Group has completed nearly all of its $6.5B takeover of Strategic Hotels & Resorts after buying 15 of the firm’s 16 properties.
The acquisition helps build the Chinese firm’s credibility as a buyer on the global stage, especially after the company withdrew from the bidding war for Starwood Hotels & Resort Worldwide this year, Bloomberg reports. The takeover is the second-largest US acquisition by a Chinese buyer, behind only the $7B sale of Smithfield Foods to Shuanghui International Holdings.
“It’s only a positive (for Anbang)," says analyst David Loeb at Robert W. Baird & Co. “It helps restore their credibility, which is important for them in their own market, particularly as they look at a public offering. That’s going to require investor confidence in the group.” [Bloomberg]
