Power Sheet - April 1, 2016

The fight for Starwood is apparently over, but the story of what happened has yet to be told. We’ve been following this saga since Wu Xiaohui, CEO of China’s mysterious Anbang Insurance Group, disrupted a friendly deal for Marriott International to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts just a few weeks before shareholders were scheduled to vote on it last Monday. Wu offered to pay a higher price than Marriott was paying; Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson then topped Wu’s bid; Wu topped Sorenson – and then late yesterday withdrew his offer. It appears that Sorenson’s last offer, which the Starwood board under chairman Bruce Duncan had accepted, is now good enough to buy Starwood. Unless some entirely new bidder jumps in.

But what really happened and why? Starwood had not accepted Wu’s latest offer; the company said it was discussing it with Anbang. Maybe the two sides couldn’t agree on terms separate from the price. Or maybe the Chinese government quashed the deal. It certainly seemed odd that this insurance company was making such rich all-cash offers, and you couldn’t help wondering if its investors were just trying to move their money out of the country and out of the yuan. Xi Jinping’s government would not have liked that.

Assuming a Marriott-Starwood deal actually closes, Sorenson’s leadership challenges will be only beginning. Investors fear that he’s paying too much; Marriott stock rose when Anbang topped his offer a few days ago, and it fell when Anbang withdrew from the auction yesterday. Sorenson will have to lead a massive integration while finding more synergies and cost reductions than he budgeted for in making the original deal last fall.

Most of the media are reporting that Sorenson won the bidding war. But in fact we don’t know yet. No deal is a victory if it’s so expensive that it fails to create value for the acquirer’s shareholders. Sorenson has been a terrific leader of Marriott so far. He’ll need everything he’s got as he assembles and leads the world’s largest hotel company.

A quick note:

I was intrigued by PepsiCo’s promotion Wednesday of Al Carey to a new position running the company’s beverage and snack businesses in North America. Some analysts immediately made him the frontrunner to succeed CEO Indra Nooyi. Speculating on Nooyi’s successor has been a popular game since at least 2011, when she was under heavy pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to separate the snack business (Frito-Lay) from its beverage business. When I spoke with several PepsiCo executives back then, many of them made similar remarks, unprompted, along the lines of “People in this company would walk through walls for Al Carey.” Yet he wasn’t on anyone’s list of potential successors, probably because he’s four years older than Nooyi; she’s now 60, and he’s 64.

One can easily construct scenarios in which it would make sense for Carey to become CEO. But in light of the age difference, odds are that this inspiring leader won’t be a CEO, which seems a shame.

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What We're Reading Today

Anbang pulls bid for Starwood

Anbang Insurance chairman Wu Xiaohui was reportedly frustrated that Starwood Hotels and Resorts hadn't accepted his latest, $14-billion offer. His withdrawal sets the stage for Arne Sorenson's Marriott International to finalize the Starwood merger. Anbang broke up a Starwood-Marriott deal with a higher offer three weeks ago. Marriott countered, and Anbang made its $14-billion bid earlier this week. Fortune

Trump meets with RNC heads

In a surprise meeting, Donald Trump spoke with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus in an apparent attempt to mend fences. The meeting comes after Trump rescinded his pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, a gaffe about abortion, his campaign manager's arrest, and polls showing that he's falling behind in the Wisconsin primary next Tuesday. Trump tweeted afterward that he looks to unite the party. Politico

GE wants off the 'too big to fail' list

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