OZ Capital Management Loading Up On Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT)

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In an amended 13G recently filed with the SEC, Daniel Och’s OZ Capital Management has disclosed a 5.97% ownership stake in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:HOT). The aggregate amount of shares beneficially owned amounts to 10.17 million, up by about 1.54 million shares from the position reported in the fund’s prior filing on Starwood.

Och-Ziff Capital Management

Och-Ziff Capital Management is a hedge fund and global alternative asset management firm established by Daniel S. Och in 1994. The firm pursues a broad range of investment opportunities worldwide through its offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Beijing. OZ Capital Management is currently among the largest institutional alternative asset firms in the world, with $46.5 billion in assets under management as of August 1, 2015. Moreover, the firm employs a multi-strategy approach to investing, which consists of merger arbitrage, convertible and derivative arbitrage, equity restructuring, and credit and distressed investments, to name just a few. According to the fund’s most recent 13F filing with the SEC, OZ Capital Management oversees a public equity portfolio with a market value of $30.85 billion as of March 31, with the fund’s top ten holdings accounting for 24.35% of the aforementioned value.

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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE:HOT) is an American hotel and leisure company with more than 1,200 properties in approximately 100 countries. The company owns, operates, and franchises hotels, resorts, and residences under several renowned brands. Starwood announced in April that it planned to explore strategic options and other financial alternatives to increase shareholder value, which in turn fueled speculation of a potential merger with one of its competitors, InterContinental. A potential deal could have created the largest hotel operator in the world, with more than 1 million rooms. However, the board of directors of IHG denied the rumors about a combination of the businesses in late-July. The shares of Starwood have lost nearly 5% since the beginning of the current year, partly owing to InterContinental Hotels Group’s rebuttal of said merger talks.

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