Starwood buys time-share firm

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. said it agreed to buy Vistana Inc., a vacation time-share developer, for about $403.9 million in cash and stock.

Starwood said the deal values Orlando, Fla.-based Vistana at $19 a share. Starwood said it will pay $5 a share in cash and the balance in Starwood shares.

Vistana had 1998 sales of $234 million and operates 10 resorts -- four in Florida, three in Colorado, one in South Carolina and two in Arizona.

Starwood expects the acquisition, slated to close in the fourth quarter, will add to earnings in 2000. Starwood earned $208 million, or $1.03 a share, on revenue of $4.9 billion in 1998.

Starwood, of White Plains, N.Y., operates more than 700 hotels and resorts in 72 countries under such chains as Sheraton, Westin and Four Points.

It's selling its Caesars World gaming business, including Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, to Park Place Entertainment of Las Vegas.

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