Shares in Starwood Hotels & Resorts jumped on media reports a trio of Chinese firms could be about to make a bid for the company.
Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels, HNA Group, and China Investment Corp have all reportedly presented proposals to the Chinese government to make an offer for Starwood which has a current valuation of about $13 billion.
Beijing wants only one of the companies to go forward with a bid to avoid driving up the price, people familiar with discussions told Dow Jones.
If it comes off, it could be the largest Chinese acquisition of a US company so far.
"Chinese investors have been pretty aggressive in the hotel market over the last year or so," said Lukas Hartwich, an analyst at real estate firm Green Street Advisors LLC.
"Starwood has some pretty powerful brands. It’s an attractive platform, especially if you don’t already own a platform with that kind of cache."
Starwood earlier this year stated its intention to explore all strategic options including a possible sale or merger.
The Stamford, CT. based company has so far declined to comment on the speculation.
The company ended trading Tuesday up more than 9%, the biggest one day gain in its share price since 2008.
