What Marriott Told Its Hotel Owners About the Impending Merger

While the details of Marriott International’s acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts has immense ramifications for the entire lodging sector, it’s unclear how the deal will affect Marriott’s own franchisees and hotel owners.

With a new, combined catalog of 30 brands, it’s likely that some flags will be tweaked, combined or dropped all together when the deal is official in mid-2016.

Here’s the letter Marriott sent to owners and franchisees announcing the acquisition, according to its SEC filings, and detailing what affect it will have on the company’s hotels in the near term.

Marriott International to Acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide 

This morning, it was announced <link> that Marriott International has signed an agreement to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts in a merger transaction that will bring together two highly complementary businesses. Starwood is a leader in the lifestyle segment whose strong portfolio of brands, loyal customer base, international footprint and beautiful properties will help us achieve our vision of making Marriott International the World’s Favorite Travel Company.

The merger will increase Marriott’s global distribution and customer base, creating significant opportunities for economies of scale to reduce costs at the property level. The transaction will also position us to offer an expanded loyalty program, give consumers more of what they want, and expand our account coverage, which we anticipate will increase revenues and lead to greater performance and profitability.

Once the merger is complete, Marriott International will be the world’s largest hotel company, with 1.1 million rooms across more than 5,500 properties worldwide. This merger creates a unique opportunity for us to be able to meet the varied needs of travelers, whatever their purpose and wherever they are in the world. We are confident that this will generate meaningful value for you, as owners and franchisees, as well as for guests and associates.

This integration will require a significant amount of work, and we anticipate it will take many months for the deal to be completed. Until that time, we ask that you not actively engage with Starwood for any Marriott-related business or sales activities. We will provide regular updates on the status of the merger over the course of the coming months. Note: we will also share this update with General Managers this morning to ensure they are aware.

We understand you may have questions at this time, so we would like to invite you to join a webinar this afternoon for an overview and an opportunity to ask questions. Please register to join us at 2:00 p.m. ET <Link to register> or 3:00 p.m. ET <link to register>.

We look forward to the many opportunities this merger will bring to the company, to our guests and to our owners and franchisees. We thank you for your support and partnership.