Marriott Sues Miami Beach Hotel Owner Over Takeover Attempt

Marriott International Inc. (MAR), the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel chain, sued the owner of the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach over accusations it attempted a hostile takeover of the hotel.

The suit accuses Miami-based Eden Roc of trying unsuccessfully to oust Renaissance Hotel Management Co. as manager of the hotel during an “egregious raid in the pre-dawn hours” on Oct. 14, according to a complaint filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Marriott is seeking injunctions preventing Eden Roc from taking any action to remove or replace Renaissance as manager of the hotel and interfering with its management and operation, according to the court documents.

“While Eden Roc’s initial hostile takeover attempt was unsuccessful due in part to timely police intervention, Eden Roc has threatened to try again and may do so at any moment, if the requested relief is not granted,” according to the complaint.

Eden Roc LLLP sued Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott and its Renaissance Hotel Management unit in the same court in April over accusations Marriott mismanaged the property after it invested more than $300 million in the hotel, including a $240 million renovation.

Restraining Order

Eden Roc said in an Oct. 14 statement that an affiliated operating unit had taken over management of the hotel.

In a separate statement yesterday, Todd E. Soloway, an attorney with Pryor Cashman who represents the ownership group, said Justice Melvin Schweitzer had issued a temporary restraining order permitting Renaissance to continue to manage the hotel “while the court considers the merits of the parties’ arguments.”

“While Eden Roc disagrees with the court’s order, it will abide by it pending further court order,” Soloway said in the statement.

Schweitzer’s order couldn’t be immediately confirmed in court records.

The 21-floor, 631-room art deco hotel, located in Miami Beach, opened in 1956 and has hosted celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, according to its website.

The hotel, which was featured in several episodes of the 1950s television show “I Love Lucy,” was designed by architect Morris Lapidus, who also designed the neighboring Fontainebleau.

The case is Marriott International Inc. v. Eden Roc LLLP, 653590/2012, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.