Status:  Mitigation

Acquirer:  Anbang Insurance Group Co. (China)

Acquired:  Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. (U.S.); Blackstone Group LP (U.S.)

Value:  Pre-mitigation, approx. US$6.5 Billion

Industry:  Hospitality

In March 2016, news reports indicated that China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. announced its intent to buy Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., the owner of 16 luxury properties, from a Blackstone Group LP-managed real-estate fund for approximately US$6.5 billion.  (See “Blackstone Said to Sell Hotels to Anbang for $6.5 Billion,” Hui-Yong Yu, Bloomberg (March 12, 2016).)  On October 21, however, news reports indicated that only 15 of the 16 properties were acquired in September 2016 because one of the properties, Hotel del Coronado, raised issues with CFIUS because it is located near the southern California Naval Base Coronado.  (See “Blackstone Ends Plan to Sell Landmark Hotel to China’s Anbang After U.S. Opposition,” Hui-Yong Yu, Bloomberg, October 21, 2016; see also “Anbang’s bid to buy landmark US hotel near naval base called off due to security concerns,” South China Morning Post, Oct. 22, 2016.)  According to the South China Morning Post article, “[t]he Hotel del Coronado has an assessed value of US$588 million, though its market price is far higher.”