Item 8.01. Other Events.
On November 5, 2009, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (the "Company")
entered into an underwriting agreement (the "Underwriting Agreement") with
Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC, Calyon Securities
(USA) Inc., RBS Securities Inc. and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., on behalf of
themselves and the representatives of the underwriters named therein
(collectively, the "Underwriters"). Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, the
Company agreed to issue and sell to the Underwriters, and the Underwriters
agreed to purchase for resale to the public, $250,000,000 principal amount of
the Company's 7.150% Senior Notes due 2019 (the "Notes"). The Notes will be sold
to the Underwriters at an issue price of 96.434% of the principal amount
thereof, and the Underwriters will offer the Notes to the public at a price of
97.559% of the principal amount thereof. The offering of the Notes is expected
to be completed on November 20, 2009.
The Notes will be direct, unsecured obligations of the Company and will rank
equally with all of the Company's existing and future unsecured and
unsubordinated obligations. Interest on the Notes will be payable semi-annually
on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning on June 1, 2010.
Also on November 5, 2009, the Company announced the commencement of cash tender
offers to purchase up to $200 million aggregate principal amount of its 77/8%
Senior Notes due 2012 and up to $100 million aggregate principal amount of its
61/4% Senior Notes due 2013 on the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer
to Purchase, dated November 5, 2009, and the related Letter of Transmittal,
which are being sent to the holders of such securities. A copy of the press
release relating to such announcement, dated November 5, 2009, is attached
hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.
The Company expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $241.1 million from
the offering, which the Company intends to apply to repurchase senior notes in
the cash tender offers described above, plus accrued and unpaid interest on
those notes and related fees and expenses. If the cash tender offers are not
completed, or there are any remaining net proceeds that are not so applied, then
the remaining proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate
purposes.
The Notes are being offered and sold by the Company pursuant to a registration
statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-145894).
The foregoing description of the Underwriting Agreement does not purport to be
complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the
Underwriting Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 1.1 hereto and is incorporated
by reference herein.
This report includes "forward-looking" statements, as that term is defined in
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 or by the Securities and
Exchange Commission in its rules, regulations and releases. Forward-looking
statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact,
including statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs, hopes,
intentions or strategies regarding the future. In some cases, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will,"
"expects," "should," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates,"
"predicts," "potential," "continue," or other words of similar meaning.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in, or implied
by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, the Company's
financial and business prospects, its capital requirements, financing prospects,
relationships with associates and labor unions, and those disclosed as risks in
other reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including those described in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on
Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31,
2009. The Company cautions readers that any such statements are based on
currently available operational, financial and competitive information, and they
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
reflect management's opinion only as of the date on which they were made. Except
as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to review or update
these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances as they
occur.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit No. Exhibit
1.1 Underwriting Agreement, dated November 5, 2009, among Starwood Hotels &
Resorts, Worldwide, Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Banc of
America Securities LLC, Calyon Securities (USA) Inc., RBS Securities Inc.
and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., on behalf of themselves and as
representatives of the underwriters named therein.
99.1 Press release dated November 5, 2009.
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