Macau gaming names MPEL, MGM, WYNN up 1-2%, HOT/MAR + China Consortium Bid driving Cruise Line names

The big hotel M&A news to start this week seems to already be having an impact on other gaming & leisure stocks. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc HOT is up 7.8 percent after an unsolicited bid to buy the company from a Chinese consortium led by Anabang Insurance. The buyout price of $76/share tops the previous Starwood buyout bid of $72.08 by Marriott International Inc MAR.

Elsewhere, Anbang has agreed to purchase Strategic Hotels & Resorts from Blackstone Group LP BX for $6.5 billion. Blackstone turned a quick $500 million profit on the asset, which it had only acquired back in December for $6.0 billion, including debt.

The Bejing-based Anbang has been on a hotel buying spree in the past year or so. The company purchased the Waldorf Astoria in New York last year for $1.95 billion.

The pair of M&A deals seems to have triggered some buying in other segments of gaming & leisure as well. Macau casino operators Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (ADR) MPEL, Las Vegas Sands Corp LVS and MGM Resorts International MGM are all up more than 1.5 percent in Monday’s session.

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In addition, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH and Carnival Corp CCL are both up modestly in Monday trading.

Disclosure: the author is long Melco Crown Entertainment.