Open Letter to US Hotel Owners and Managers Highlights Risks of Chinese Government Investment
Strategic News Service’s INVNT/IP Consortium issued an open letter warning last week [March 24, 2016] regarding Chinese government investment in the US hospitality industry. The letter focuses on the recent offer by Anbang Insurance Group Inc., a Chinese government-owned conglomerate currently striving to expand holdings in the US hospitality industry through the purchase of major US hotel interests. The open letter, published on March 24th, detailed the potential problems with Chinese government ownership in the industry.
“The increase in Chinese-foreign M&A activity in the last few years is stunning in scale,” noted Evan Anderson, INVNT/IP’s Director of Research. “The funding for this is often coming from the Chinese government, and industry leaders across the board should be thinking carefully about the possible consequences of selling assets to that entity. In the hospitality industry, we’re looking at Chinese government control of the country’s most important, and sensitive, meeting places. These hotels are an intellectual property hotbed, and it’s critical to understand them as such. They are a part of our inventive infrastructure, and they are vulnerable.”
As of Monday, March 28th, Anbang Insurance Group raised its bid on Starwood Hotels to $82.75 per share, exceeding Marriott’s last offer of $21 and 0.8 shares of Marriott per share, at a cash price roughly 4,000% above Marriott’s original bid of $2.00 (and 0.9 shares) per share.
The letter can be seen here: https://medium.com/strategic-news-service/open-letter-25698002c1fe#.dl9qgh1su