In the 1980s, Japanese companies began snapping up trophy properties in the United States, including the Rockefeller Center in New York and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. Now, as China’s economy slows, companies like Anbang Insurance Group Co. are the ones on a U.S. real estate buying spree. Yesterday, news broke that the Chinese insurer, which bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York just over a year ago, had agreed to purchase Strategic Hotels & Resorts from the Blackstone Group for $6.5 billion and made an unsolicited $12.8-billion offer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Anbang’s aggressive overseas real estate push reflects a desire to diversify its holdings, but some analysts are already expressing nervousness that the company could be unable to pay back its investors, The New York Times writes. It remains to be seen whether Anbang’s $76-a-share bid for Starwood will derail Starwood’s merger plans with Marriott International. The first six weeks of 2016 have been the busiest period on record for announced Chinese merger-and-acquisition activity in Europe and North America, with $70 billion of potential deals in the pipeline, a report from Baker & McKenzie reveals. Read more here.
