Starwood may be in talks to sell St. Regis, other hotels

Hospitality giant Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide may be negotiating the sale of the St. Regis New York and other properties, part of an effort to unload about $800 million in real estate assets that aren’t part of its impending takeover by Marriott International.

Sovereign-wealth funds and insurance companies interested in diversifying their holdings are interested in “one of a kind” properties like the St. Regis, located at 2 East 55th Street in Midtown, said Starwood CEO Tom Mangas during an earnings call Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

“I don’t want to comment too much about where valuations are or will be because we might be working on trying to lock down specific valuations,” he said, according to the news service.

Starwood, which owns about 1,200 properties worldwide, is set to be acquired by Marriott International, who will pay $12.2 billion, later this year. In theory, another bidder could emerge, Mangas said, according to Bloomberg, but it was unlikely given market volatility and an unfavorable lending environment.

The company recently sold the Hotel Imperial in Vienna, Austria, for $78.8 million. [Bloomberg] – Ariel Stulberg