Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announced that, at the request of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), they have agreed to extend the time period for MOFCOM to complete its review of the Marriott-Starwood merger transaction. This additional review period, known as phase three, could last up to 60 days.
Marriott and Starwood continue to believe that their planned merger transaction poses no anti-competitive issues in China. Approval by China’s Ministry of Commerce is the only remaining merger clearance required before the transaction may close. The companies have received unconditional premerger clearances from regulatory authorities representing over 40 countries worldwide, including the United States, the European Union, Canada, Chile, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.
Note on forward-looking statements The parties’ plans for closing the merger transaction are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws, and are not historical facts. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including the satisfaction of customary closing requirements and other risk factors that we identify in Marriott’s and Starwood’s most recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in the joint proxy statement / prospectus on Form S-4 that Marriott filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 16, 2016. Any of these factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations we express or imply in this press release. We make these forward-looking statements as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
