China's Anbang Insurance Group Co. dropped its $14 billion bid offer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc because of "market consideration," a surprise move just two days after the Chinese insurer raised its offer from $13.9 billion.

Amid the three-week bidding war, Anbang paved way for its rival suitor Marriott International Inc. to acquire the Sheraton and Westin hotels operator.

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Anbang, together with its consortium Primavera Capital and J.C. Flowers & Co., raised its offer on Tuesday to purchase Starwood at $82.75 per share, outbidding Marriott's offer. 

"While attracted to Starwood's high-end global hotel portfolio, at the end of the day Anbang is a disciplined buyer," Fred Hu, Primavera chairman, told Reuters. 

"Anbang has both the interest and the financial resources to do a deal of this size and more, but only at the right terms that make long-term financial sense," he added.

Now that Anbang is out of Marriott's way, the Maryland-based hotelier is planning to continue their previous agreement to acquire Starwood and become the largest hotel operator in the world. With the proposed merging, the two companies will operate or franchise over 5,000 hotels with 1.1 million rooms across the globe.

According to a staff memo released late Thursday, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson is optimistic that the deal will finally close by the middle of this year.

"The merger has already cleared regulatory review in both the U.S. and Canada. We have already made much progress on integrating our two companies," he wrote.

Last November, Marriott agreed to buy Starwood at $12.2 billion, with $2 in cash and 0.92 of its own shares for every Starwood shares. But Starwood dropped the bid on March 18 following Anbang's $13 billion all-cash offer with a $78 value for every Starwood share.

Marriott later on increased its bid to $13.3 billion ($77.94 per share) to be paid in $21 in cash and 0.80 shares for Marriott Class A common stock for each Starwood share. Earlier this week, Anbang sweetened its bid and offered $13.9 billion. However, Marriott declined to raise its bid further, saying that its management is confident that it will close the deal. 

TagsAnbang Insurance, Marriott Hotel, Starwood Hotels, Primavera Capital, J.C. Flowers & Co., bidding wars, deals