Cendant engaged in a tax-free common stock exchange through majority stockholder JELD-WEN, who owned 81% of Trendwest, and additional stockholders. The source tells GlobeSt.com that Cendant issued 48.3 million shares at a 1:1.2973 ratio of Cendant to Trendwatch stock for the acquisition, based on Cendant market value at that time. "The deal was was determined to be in the best interests of both Trendwest and Cendant stockholders," a source close to the deal tell GlobeSt.com.
Cendant purchased Fairfield a year ago for $690 million. "We plan to maximize growth by maintaining both Fairfield and Trendwest brands," says Stephen P. Holmes, chairman of Cendant's Hospitality Division.
"This acquisition was conducted to increase our scope and diversify our portfolio in the timeshare exchange business," Sam Levenson, SVP corporate and investor relations for Cendant tells GlobeSt.com. The ratio for issuance of Cendant common stock for their acquisition of the remaining Trendwatch common stock will also be based on Cendant stock value. This final step is set to close following SEC approval, and may be as soon as 30 days, says the source, despite published reports stating the deal may take as long as 90 days.
Bill Peare, president and CEO of Trendwest, says: "Some of the benefits of this relationship include access to new distribution channels and customers and the availability of new financial resources to support our aggressive growth strategy."
New York City-based Cendant Corp. employs 60,000 in more than 6,600 locations under the AmeriHost Inn, Days Inn, and Super 8 brands. The company's Cendant Real Estate Franchise Group includes Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, and brokerages ERA and Cendant Mortgage.
Trendwest Resorts Inc. operates timeshare resorts through resort network WorldMark. Trendwest buys or develops the properties, then gives them to WorldMark in exchange for timeshare credits. Trendwest sells those credits, in the form of interest stakes in WorldMark, to individuals, who receive a certain number of credits based on their stakes.
Trendwest is headquartered in Redmond, WA. The approximately 150,000 WorldMark and WorldMark South Pacific owners have access to 2,780 condominium units at 48 resort locations in the U.S., British Colombia, Mexico, Fiji and Australia.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
