Both companies said the financial impact of the transaction was not material.

In connection with the acquisition, Cendant Hotel Group announced the appointment of Reas M. Kondraschow as senior vice president and managing director, international, responsible for development of the Ramada International, Days Inn®, Howard Johnson® and Super 8® and Wingate® brands outside of the United States, Canada, Caribbean and Mexico.

Kondraschow formerly served Marriott International as senior vice president and managing director of Ramada International Hotels & Resorts in Bethesda, Md., a position he held since April 1998.  In that role, he was responsible for managing the business, including operations, finance, development, marketing, sales, reservations, design and construction.  Kondraschow also held positions of increasing responsibility at Holiday Inn USA, Bass Hotels and Resorts and Burger King Corp.

Ramada International is primarily a franchised brand of 204 open hotels representing 27,728 rooms under the Ramada Plaza, Ramada Hotels, Ramada Resorts and Ramada Encore brands in the United Kingdom, continental Europe including Scandinavia, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Mexico and Central America.

Steven A. Rudnitsky, Cendant Hotel Group chairman and chief executive officer, said �this transaction substantially advances our strategic plan to expand aggressively outside the United States while we focus on the growth and improved performance of our domestic system.�

The transaction completes the acquisition of all Ramada worldwide trademark rights by Cendant Hotel Group Inc., which earlier this year acquired the trademark rights for the Ramada brand in the United States, where it franchises 809 Ramada properties representing 93,037 rooms.  The transaction also conveys Ramada trademark rights in Canada, where Cendant franchises 72 properties representing 7,640 rooms.

With approximately 90,000 employees, New York City-based Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) is primarily a provider of travel and residential real estate services to businesses and consumers in more than 100 countries.  Cendant�s Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, N.J., is the world�s largest lodging franchisor with 6,331 hotels representing 507,603 rooms on five continents under the Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Travelodge®, Howard Johnson®, Knights Inn®, Wingate Inn® and AmeriHost Inn® brands.  All hotels are individually owned and operated under franchise agreements with Cendant subsidiaries.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading worldwide hospitality company with more than 2,600 lodging properties under 17 brands in the United States and 64 other countries and territories.