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Cendant Corporation's Hotel Group and Marriott International
have signed a non-binding letter of intent for Cendant to purchase Ramada International Hotels & Resorts, primarily a franchised brand of 204 hotels representing 27,728 rooms in
26 countries and territories.
Pending approval by regulatory authorities and final negotiation of terms,
the signing of a sales agreement and closing on the deal are expected to occur
in the next few months. Financial terms and transition plans were not disclosed.
This transaction would complete the acquisition of all worldwide trademark
rights for the Ramada brand by Cendant's Hotel Group, which earlier this year acquired the trademark rights for the United States, where it
franchises 819 Ramada properties representing 94,128 rooms. Cendant Hotel
Group also currently licenses Ramada rights in Canada, where it franchises 71
properties representing 7,571 rooms.
Ramada International Hotels & Resorts primarily franchises hotels under
the Ramada Plaza, Ramada Hotels, Ramada Resorts and Ramada Encore brands in
the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, Central America,
South America, the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Mexico and South America.
Steven A. Rudnitsky, Cendant Hotel Group chairman and chief executive
officer, said the transaction would "unite the Ramada brand as a worldwide
entity under a single company and further demonstrate Cendant Hotel Group's
commitment to the brand," which he said is about to undergo a major upgrading
and repositioning throughout the United States and Canada.
"When completed, this purchase of Ramada International will extend our
control of the brand throughout the world and integrate two systems currently
led separately by Cendant and Marriott," he said. "Both domestic and international
franchisees would benefit from sharing of best practices while retaining the unique cultural approaches to doing business
in each respective country."
Marriott acquired the rights to Ramada through a larger acquisition in
1997. Following the acquisition, Marriott continued to license the Ramada
name in the United States to Cendant Hotel Group under existing long-term
agreements. In March 2002, the two companies formed a joint venture called
Two Flags that licensed the trademarks for Ramada and Days Inn in the United
States. Cendant Hotel Group exercised its option to redeem Marriott's interest in the Two Flags joint venture in
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