Starwood Hotels, which owns the Sheraton brand, has joined forces with Lehman Brothers and signed an agreement to take over the London-based Le Méridien hotel group for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will see the joint venture take control of all of Le Méridien’s 130 luxury hotels in 56 countries around the world.
In a separate deal, Starwood has secured the rights to the Le Meridien brand and all related management and franchise businesses for the resorts.
Le Méridien will continue to operate as an independent company under the current management team until the completion of the deal, expected by October.
Robert Riley, Le Méridien’s chief executive, said: “This deal will see Le Méridien brand poised to move forward aggressively with one of the world’s most dynamic global hospitality companies.”
Starwood has also announced it will launch a US$1.7bn (£900m, 1.4bn euros) casino resort in Las Vegas.
The 3,000-room W Las Vegas is scheduled to open in 2008 and will include a 75,000sq ft (7,000sq m) casino, more than 10 restaurants and nightclubs, a Bliss spa, a health club and around 300,000sq ft (27,8000sq m) of conference space.
The new casino will be built and operated as a joint venture with US-based private investment company Edge Resorts. Details: www.starwoodhotels.com and www.lemeridien.com
