Shareholders Agree Marriott Starwood Deal

Marriott International (NasdaqGS: MAR - news) 's $14.4bn (£10.2bn) purchase of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE: HOT - news) has been approved by shareholders from both companies.

The vote was one of the last hurdles that Marriott had to clear, after China’s Anbang Insurance Group suddenly withdrew its bid last week.

Authorities in the European Union and in China will still have to give the go-ahead for the sale, but it is expected to be completed by the summer.

Ninety-seven percent of Marriott shareholders supported the acquisition, while Starwood approved it by 95%.

Each stockholder at Starwood will receive $21 (£14.88) in cash and 0.8 of a Marriott share for each one of Starwood's – amounting to $79.53 a share – once the deal is approved.

Starwood, which owns hotel brands including Sheraton, Weston and St Regis, put itself up for sale in 2015 as it was struggling to grow as fast as its rivals.

The deal will give Marriott access to a younger customer base through Starwood’s St Regis resorts, and will also allow it to increase its presence in the Asian market, where Starwood is the largest operator of four and five star hotels.

The combined group will have more than 1.1 million rooms across 5,500 different properties, making it the largest hotel chain in the world.

The next largest company is Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT - news) with 4,500 premises and about 735,000 rooms (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .