NEW YORK— The latest suitor that may hook up with U.K.-based private equity group CVC Capital Partners Ltd. to go after Six Continents PLC— in a “friendly” way— is reportedly Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Both Starwood and Marriott International, Inc. are said to be in negotiations with CVC to make a friendly takeover bid for 6C, sources told The Wall Street Journal, according to a report by Dow Jones Business. Any offer by CVC together with global lodging chains Marriott or Starwood would be presented against last week’s £5.64 billion (US$8.91 billion) hostile bid for 6C by British entrepreneur Hugh Osmond via Capital Management & Investment (CMI) that was “firmly” rejected by 6C. Reports in Friday’s Financial Times placed Marriott in discussions for a potential bid for 6C with Texas Pacific Group, a U.S. buyout concern and CVC. Six Continents said it had not received any bid proposal from Marriott or its reported bid partners. The company said it did not expect any potential offer to be presented before its planned demerger, although it did stress it would “seriously consider any proposal that might be attractive to shareholders and has reasonable prospect of delivery.” As previously reported by HOTEL BUSINESS®, 6C is forging ahead with its planned extraordinary general meeting this Wednesday, March 12, which will call for a shareholder vote on the proposed demerger of its lodging and pubs business. Six Continents owns or franchises more than 3,300 hotels under the Holiday Inn, InterContinental and Crowne Plaza brands, along with approximately 2, 000 pubs. According to the Dow Jones Business report, 6C executives told the potential white-knight group that they intend to poll their investors to get a sense of whether the demerger plan is likely to be approved in the Wednesday vote. If the separation proposal doesn’t look like it will get the nod, the CVC alternative will be formally submitted, according to the reports. Whether Starwood or Marriott will team with CVC was unclear, but the winner could likely be based on the amount of cash that could be ponied up when tandeming with CVC, noted the report. When HOTEL BUSINESS® asked about the proposed deal, a spokesperson for Starwood declined to comment. Similarly, Charlotte Sterling, evp-communications for Marriott International, said the company was “just not able to comment on it at all.” — Stefani C. O’Connor
