Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts are set to merge. The combined company will operate or franchise more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide, creating the world’s largest hotel company.

The transaction combines Starwood’s leading lifestyle brands and international footprint with Marriott’s strong presence in the luxury and select-service tiers, as well as the convention and resort segment, creating a more comprehensive portfolio and offering broader choices for guests.

“The driving force behind this transaction is growth,” says president and CEO of Marriott International Arne Sorenson. “This is an opportunity to create value by combining the distribution and strengths of Marriott and Starwood, enhancing our competitiveness in a quickly evolving marketplace. This greater scale should offer a wider choice of brands to consumers, improve economics to owners and franchisees, increase unit growth, and enhance long-term value to shareholders.”

It is expected that the merger will accelerate the growth of Starwood’s brands, leveraging Marriott’s worldwide development organization and owner and franchisee relationships. Their loyalty programs – Marriott Rewards has 54 million members and Starwood Preferred Guest has 21 million members – are also projected to be even stronger when the companies merge.

“We are excited to play a vital role in the creation of the biggest and best hotel company in the world with tremendous upside potential,” says Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide CEO Adam Aron. “The combination of our two companies brings together the best in innovation, culture, and execution.  Our guests and customers will benefit from so many more options across 30 hotel brands.” www.marriott.com