Cendant Corp. Ratings Affirmed After It Announces Plan to Acquire Galileo International Inc.

NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) June 18, 2001-- Standard&Poor's today affirmed its ratings on Cendant Corp. (see list below) following Cendant's announcement that it will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Galileo International Inc. for $33 per share, or about $2.9 billion. Cendant will also assume $560 million of Galileo's debt. Under the terms of the agreement, 80.5% of the equity purchase price will be funded through a tax-free exchange of Cendant common stock, with the remainder funded through cash. The outlook is negative. The affirmation reflects the substantial equity component of the transaction, resulting in no adverse change to Cendant's credit profile. Strategically, the transaction is in line with Cendant's stated growth objective of

...NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's CreditWire) June 18, 2001-- Standard & Poor's today affirmed its ratings on Cendant Corp. (see list below) following Cendant's announcement that it will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Galileo International Inc. for $33 per share, or about $2.9 billion. Cendant will also assume $560 million of Galileo's debt. Under the terms of the agreement, 80.5% of the equity purchase price will be funded through a tax-free exchange of Cendant common stock, with the remainder funded through cash. The outlook is negative. The affirmation reflects the substantial equity component of the transaction, resulting in no adverse change to Cendant's credit profile. Strategically, the transaction is in line with Cendant's stated growth objective of increasing its presence in such core sectors as travel. Galileo is an international provider of electronic global distribution services for the travel industry. Its computerized reservation systems provide travel agencies,...

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