...NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's CreditWire) May 24, 1999--Standard & Poor's today affirmed its ratings for Cendant Corp and its wholly owned subsidiary, PHH Corp. (see list below), following the announcement that Cendant has agreed to sell PHH's fleet segment for $1.8 billion, and intends to sell other noncore assets for $1.0 billion-$1.5 billion. The outlook is developing. The divestiture of the fleet business is credit neutral for Cendant, as Standard & Poor's had evaluated the PHH business units and its related debt separately. Also, unlike the mortgage and relocation businesses of PHH, the fleet business never fully achieved the anticipated synergies with other Cendant business units. Therefore, its sale will not impact the overall business profile of Cendant. Cendant's financial profile will also not be materially affected, as after-tax proceeds that are upstreamed to Cendant will be used to pay down debt and buy back shares in amounts that are consistent with the current credit profile....
