On Thursday, Shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (NYSE:HOT), lost -0.89% to $78.88.
Interval Leisure Group (Nasdaq:IILG), and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (HOT) declared that the Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which a wholly owned partner of ILG will acquire and then merge with and into Vistana Signature Experiences. The combination, which will follow completion of the planned spin-off of Vistana from Starwood declared on February 10, 2015, has a total value to Starwood of about $1.5 billion.
Vistana is a leading developer marketer and manager of 22 high-end vacation ownership resorts with more than 220,000 owners and a world-class team of more than 5,000 associates. As a result of this merger, the combined company will have a more diverse portfolio and a strengthened position as a leader in the vacation ownership industry with an expansive portfolio of about 200 managed resorts encompassing over 500,000 owners. The merger will bolster ILG’s vacation ownership portfolio by adding worldwide exclusive rights to use the Sheraton® and Westin® brands in vacation ownership, while allowing Sheraton Vacation Club and Westin Vacation Club owners to continue enjoying access to the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program. In addition, ILG provides memberships to nearly two million consumer families through Interval International, one of its major operating businesses. The combined company will have the scale, global reach, assets, inventory, and sales and marketing infrastructure to support raised growth. It will also have an improved financial profile, with a strong balance sheet and substantial free cash flow from recurring fee-for-service revenues to drive sales and earnings growth.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hotel and leisure company. The Company’s hotel business is focused on the global operation of hotels and resorts primarily in the luxury and upper upscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands.
Shares of AES Corp (NYSE:AES), declined -0.18% to $11.00, during its last trading session.
Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL), a partner of The AES Corporation (AES), was recognized by PA Consulting Group as the recipient of the 2015 ReliabilityOne™ Award for Outstanding Midsize Utility. To be eligible for this recognition, a utility must deliver a reliability performance ranked in the top 95th percentile.
All Midsized utilities operating electric delivery networks in North America are eligible for consideration for the Outstanding Midsize Utility award. The selection of provisional recipients is based primarily on system reliability statistics that measure the frequency and duration of customer outages. After provisional recipients are selected, each company undergoes an on-site certification process which provides an independent review and confirmation of the policies, processes and systems used to collect, analyze and report a company’s reliability results.
The AES Corporation (AES) is a holding company that operates a portfolio of electricity generation and distribution businesses. The Company is organized into six market-oriented Planned Business Units (SBUs): the United States, Andes (Chile, Colombia and Argentina), Brazil, MCAC (Mexico, Central America and Caribbean), Europe (formerly EMEA) and Asia.
Finally, Shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC), ended its last trade with 1.20% gain, and closed at $53.85.
Lincoln National Corporation, stated net income for the third quarter of 2015 of $227 million, or $0.87 per diluted share available to common stockholders, contrast to net income in the third quarter of 2014 of $439 million, or $1.65 per diluted share available to common stockholders. Third quarter income from operations was $289 million, or $1.11 per diluted share available to common stockholders, contrast to $414 million, or $1.56 per diluted share available to common stockholders, in the third quarter of 2014.
The board of directors of Lincoln National Corporation approved raising the quarterly dividend on its common shares to $0.25 per share. The dividend represents a 25% improvement over the prior-year level. The raised dividend on the common stock will be payable February 1, 2016, to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 11, 2016.
Lincoln National Corporation is a holding company, which operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses through partner companies. The Company sells a range of wealth protection, accumulation and retirement income products and solutions, through its business segments.