HOT Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

By Natalia Drozdiak

BRUSSELS--The European Union on Monday unconditionally cleared Marriott International Inc.'s (MAR) roughly $13.6 billion takeover of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT), saying the proposed merger wouldn't harm competition in the region.

"Our investigation confirmed that the hotel sector will remain competitive for customers in Europe following the merger, so I am pleased that the commission was able to clear the transaction quickly," EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said. The companies formally notified the EU of the transaction in late May.

Starwood and Marriott shareholders in April approved the merger to create the world's largest hotel chain. The companies said then they expected to close the deal in the middle of this year after already obtaining regulatory clearance in the U.S. Starwood shareholders are set to receive 0.8 share of Marriott common stock plus $21 in cash for each share of Starwood common stock they own.

The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust agency, said it had focused its probe in the cities of Barcelona, Milan, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw, where both companies have a strong market presence but found the merged company would still face sufficient competition from chain and independent hotels there.

The newly merged company would also continue to compete with, among others, Accor SA, Hyatt Hotels Corp., Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC in the hotel management and franchising services markets.

Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 27, 2016 08:44 ET (12:44 GMT)

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