PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Cendant Hotel Group today said it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the Baymont Inn & Suites(R) brand and system of 115 franchised properties. The acquisition from affiliates of The Blackstone Group, a private investment firm based in New York, includes worldwide rights to the Baymont Inn & Suites brand but no real estate. "We bought Baymont Inn & Suites because of its strategic importance in the growing midscale lodging segment and the significant opportunities it presents to grow our businesses," said Steven A. Rudnitsky, Cendant Hotel Group chairman and chief executive officer. Under terms of the transaction, Blackstone will continue to provide certain reservations support services to Baymont franchisees on a temporary basis until Cendant Hotel Group initiates central reservations services for the brand. Current members of the frequent traveler program serving Baymont will be enrolled in Cendant Hotel Group's TripRewards(R) loyalty program. Anthony Berger, Cendant Hotel Group chief operating officer, announced that the Baymont brand will be led by Keith Pierce, a 24-year hospitality industry veteran who will continue to serve the company as a group president and president of its Ramada(R), Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands. Pierce, who joined Cendant in 1990, is a graduate of Florida International University's School of Hotel Administration, Miami. "Keith brings to this responsibility more than two decades of on-property and corporate experience in brand marketing, brand operations and brand management," Berger said. "Most recently, he led the development of our award-winning Wingate Inn brand and repositioning of our Ramada brand." Cendant Hotel Group, which will become part of a Cendant spin-off hospitality company called Wyndham Worldwide later this year, is one of the world's largest integrated lodging franchise and management companies with more than 6,400 hotels on six continents franchised under the Wyndham(R), Ramada(R), Days Inn(R), Super 8(R), Wingate Inn(R), Howard Johnson(R), Travelodge(R), Knights Inn(R), Baymont Inn & Suites(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands. All hotels are owned individually and operated independently or by a Cendant subsidiary. Cendant Hotel Group's TripRewards(R) loyalty program is the largest in the industry, based on the number of participating hotels. 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-K for the period ended Dec. 31, 2005. DATASOURCE: Cendant Hotel Group CONTACT: Rich Roberts, Vice President, Communications, Cendant Hotel Group, +1-973-496-0750, Web site: http://www.cendant.com/

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