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The Wyndham International Hotel Group was acquired by the Cendant Corporation for 101 million in cash. The acquisition includes 82 franchise agreements, 27 management contracts and the worldwide rights to the Wyndham brand for hotel and timeshare development.

This increases Cendants breadth into the hotel marketplace by providing an upscale brand to compliment their other hotel properties and time share businesses. Cendant Hotel Group is the world’s largest lodging franchisor with 6,460 hotels on five continents under the Wyndham(R), Super 8(R), Days Inn(R), Ramada(R), Travelodge(R), Howard Johnson(R), Knights Inn(R), Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands.

For more information, here is a press release and the story covered by Successful Meetings.

Press Release:

Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD)
today announced it has completed the acquisition of the management and
franchise business of the Dallas-based Wyndham(R) hotel chain from an
affiliate of The Blackstone Group for $101 million in cash.  The acquisition
includes 82 franchise agreements, 27 management contracts and the worldwide
rights to the Wyndham brand for hotel and timeshare development.
    As previously announced, Cendant is not acquiring any properties as part
of this transaction, which is expected to be modestly accretive to Cendant’s
earnings per share and free cash flow in 2005.
    The newly renamed Wyndham Worldwide will operate as a distinct entity
within Cendant Hotel Group under a dedicated management team that will be
focused on three key areas: the brand, its managed hotels and franchise
development.  Aside from retaining certain functions in Dallas, Wyndham
Worldwide’s corporate offices will be based in Parsippany, N.J.
    Steven A. Rudnitsky, Cendant Hotel Group chairman and chief executive
officer, said the acquisition of the company’s first upscale hotel brand
allows Cendant to pursue “unprecedented cross-selling opportunities and
marketing synergies with our timeshare and other travel businesses.”
    Accelerated expansion and enhanced performance will be keystones of the
Wyndham strategic plan, he said. “We will work with our operators to optimize
the return on their assets.  Concurrently we will seek to aggressively expand
Wyndham distribution, both domestically and internationally.”
    Franz Hanning, president and chief executive officer of Cendant Timeshare
Resort Group-the world’s largest owner and operator of vacation ownership
companies-noted the importance of acquiring Wyndham timeshare development
rights along with Cendant’s hotel business.  “The Wyndham timeshare rights
represent a significant element in the future of our timeshare business,” he
said.

    New York City-based Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) provides travel and
residential real estate services to businesses and consumers in more than 100
countries.  Cendant Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, N.J., is the world’s
largest lodging franchisor with 6,460 hotels on five continents under the
Wyndham(R), Super 8(R), Days Inn(R), Ramada(R), Travelodge(R), Howard
Johnson(R), Knights Inn(R), Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands.
Cendant’s franchised hotels sell nearly one out of every five economy and
midpriced room-nights in the United States, and Cendant franchises 10.3
percent of the entire U.S. hotel room supply, according to Smith Travel
Research and Cendant financial data.  All hotels are individually owned and
operated under franchise agreements with Cendant subsidiaries.

    Statements about future results made in this release constitute forward-
looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.  These statements are based on current expectations and
the current economic environment.  Cendant cautions that these statements are
not guarantees of future performance.  Actual results may differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.  Important
assumptions and other important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified
in Cendant’s Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2005.

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