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The Chinese Government has taken control of Anbang Insurance Group
The Waldorf Astoria is one of the most famous hotels in the entire world. I’ve had a love affair with the hotel for a couple decades. I think it all started with “Scent of a Woman,” when the It holds a very special place in my heart as I celebrated my 21st birthday there with my family quite some time ago. After college, when I lived in New York for a couple of years, I loved just walking through the lobby, having a drink or afternoon tea, and had various friends and family stay there on visits through the city. I loved meeting people in their room just because it afforded me the opportunity to see various room types in the main hotel and towers. When Hilton sold the hotel to Anbang in 2014 for just under $2B I was hoping that the capital investment would bring the dated hotel back to its former glory, much like the Plaza hotel had recently gone through. That future seems a bit murkier now…
Chinese Goverment takes control of the Waldorf’s owner, Anbang.
In a statement released by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, Anbang is facing possible insolvency, and as a result, the Chinese Government is taking over Anbang for a year, until 2/22/2018. If you’re unfamiliar with Anbang, it’s a massive Chinese conglomerate with some $300 billion in assets, and has made headlines with large, glamorous purchases over the last few years. – (it also made headlines with a failed $14B purchase attempt of Starwood). In addition to the Waldorf Astoria New York, Anbang bought Blackstone’s hotel group: Strategic Hotels and Resorts. That purchase gave them ownership of even more glamourous American properties like:
- JW Marriott Essex House – New York
- Hotel Del Coronado – San Diego
- Westin St. Francis – San Francisco
- Four Seasons – D.C.
Chinese seizure of Wu and Anbang
An article from the New York Times points out the criticism that major deal makers were facing inside China. This criticism only compounded already mounting pressure from U.S. regulators who were getting more and more weary of opaquely organized deal structures acquiring U.S. assets. Within China it appeared that money was quickly leaving its borders through larger and larger foreign acquisitions. The head of Anbang, Wu, was detained last year, and now the company, which started as a car insurance business, and all of its assets, is under control of the Chinese Government.
Will be interesting to see what happens with the Waldorf, and also how U.S. regulators and deal makers respond to this sudden change. What do you think?
*feature image courtesy of Waldorf Official Facebook page
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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