Anbang Insurance Group has abruptly withdrawn their $14 Billion offer for Starwood making a Starwood and Marriott tie up likely.

According to the WSJ and Bloomberg among other news outlets, Anbang abruptly withdrew their offer. This makes the acquisition of Starwood by Marriott much more likely to go through.

My hunch is that those with Starwood points have been burning points faster than you can shake a stick at. Based on either buyer, a likely target for “synergies” could be the Starwood preferred guest program. Those that remember the Hilton acquisition by Blackstone in 2007, recall that the value of Hilton points was abruptly cut short after the deal closed. So it could be part of the plan with any Starwood acquisition, although Marriott’s CEO has made statements attempting to calm the nerves of Starwood guests. It is likely the SPG program will have to change at some point during the integration to realize synergies and pay for the increased price that Marriott is now paying due to the Anbang bidding war.

Given the acquisition, there is a liklihood the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card will go away. If you didn’t get in on past offer, you can read about all the benefits of the cards here, Amazing SPG Amex Cards Best Sign Up Offer! Of course, with both the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express you get up to 5 Starpoints® for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating SPG® hotels (1 Starpoint for all other purchases) and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year on both cards.