Who will end up owning Starwood, the parent company of business hotel chains such as W, Sheraton and Westin?
The highest bidder at the moment is Starwood rival Marriott, which on 21 March announced that it planned to sweeten its first offer made in November by US$1.4 billion.
The first offer involved Marriott handing over 0.92 shares of Marriott International and $2.00 in cash for each Starwood share. The amended offer proposes 0.80 Marriott shares and $21 in cash.
Why the better offer?
The reason is an unsolicited offer last week from a consortium comprising Chinese insurance group Anbag and the private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co. and Primavera Capital. This offer would see Starwood shareholders receive $78 in cash and $5.67 in shares of non-traditional accommodation provider Interval Leisure Group. This valued Starwood at $13.2 billion.
It is likely we have not seen the end of this battle for control of Starwood.
Anbang has its sights set on hotel acquisition. It bought the Waldorf-Astoria from Hilton International for almost $2 billion in October 2014 and earlier this month announced it planned to buy Strategic Hotels and Resorts from Blackstone for $6.5 billion. The group owns a number of Hyatt, Marriott and InterContinental properties.
Many analysts believe that it will sweeten its own offer further to seize the initiative from Marriott and it looks to have the cash to trump any higher offer from Marriott.
So what is the ultimate prize for their two suitors?
One that will chime with travel buyers is control of the relationships with the hotel guest, largely through Starwood's loyalty programme Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).
SPG has more than 21 million members while Marriott Rewards has more than 54 million.
In a video message to Marriott and Starwood's loyalty members after its initial offer, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said, "Without a doubt, these loyalty programmes are the most powerful tool we have for developing strong relationships with our guests."
You can watch the full video here:
What Marriott has recognised and is willing to pay for is that owning the direct relationship with guests is becoming increasingly important in a traveller-centric world.
For Anbang, the deal is less about guests and more about diversifying its portfolio of investments and expansion overseas, particularly as the Chinese economy falters.
With two different, but very valid, approaches, the battle for control is set to continue for some weeks so stay tuned.