Cendant's 'BBB' Corporate Credit Rating Affirmed After Announcing Intention to Acquire Budget

NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 23, 2002-- Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed travel and real estate services provider Cendant Corp.'s triple-'B' corporate credit rating, its wholly owned subsidiary PHH Corp.'s single-'A'-minus counterparty credit rating, and all other affiliated ratings (see list below). Standard&Poor's rates Cendant (excluding the businesses associated with PHH) separately from PHH. The affirmations follow Parsippany, N.J.-based Cendant's announcement that it will acquire the assets of Budget Group Inc. for $107.5 million in cash, the assumption of $2.7 billion in vehicle debt, the payment of certain transaction-related expenses, and the assumption of certain contracts and trade payables. Standard&Poor's withdrew its ratings from Budget on Aug. 14, 2002, following Budget's filing for Chapter

...NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Aug. 23, 2002-- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed travel and real estate services provider Cendant Corp.'s triple-'B' corporate credit rating, its wholly owned subsidiary PHH Corp.'s single-'A'-minus counterparty credit rating, and all other affiliated ratings (see list below). Standard & Poor's rates Cendant (excluding the businesses associated with PHH) separately from PHH. The affirmations follow Parsippany, N.J.-based Cendant's announcement that it will acquire the assets of Budget Group Inc. for $107.5 million in cash, the assumption of $2.7 billion in vehicle debt, the payment of certain transaction-related expenses, and the assumption of certain contracts and trade payables. Standard & Poor's withdrew its ratings from Budget on Aug. 14, 2002, following Budget's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 29, 2002. The rating outlooks for Cendant and PHH remain negative. About $6.7 billion in Cendant debt was outstanding on June 30, 2002....

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