(ECNS) -- China's Anbang Insurance Group said it hasn't got any information of a rumored inspection by China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) over the company's abandoned bid for Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Anbang has been engaging in high-profile acquisitions domestically and abroad over recent years. It walked away from its proposed takeover of Starwood worth almost $14 billion against Marriott's $13.6 billion offering.
Financial news portal caixin.com reported last week that CIRC would soon dispatch an inspection team to Anbang to investigate the situation at the insurance company, which maintains a low-profile with rare media exposure.
A public relations manager at Anbang told China Entrepreneur magazine that they had received no information about the reported inspection.
In terms of possible wrongdoing during the failed bid, the manager said, "The report is not reliable. How can there be malpractice since the take-over was not successful?"
A senior manager at an insurance company, who declined to reveal his name, said the CIRC team was reportedly going to conduct research into rather than investigate Anbang.
Anbang explained earlier that it won't pursue Starwood further due to "various market conditions". But there are reports saying deals could violate a rule that restricts domestic insurance firms from investing more than 15 percent of their total assets abroad.
