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36-554: Its last CEO was Henry Silverman . Hospitality Franchise Systems Inc. (HFS) was created as an affiliate of the Blackstone Group , a private equity firm, as a vehicle to acquire hotel franchises. It was led by Henry Silverman , a Blackstone partner and former CEO of Days Inn . It began in 1990 by buying Howard Johnson's and the U.S. rights to the Ramada brand from Prime Motor Inns for $ 170 million. In 1992, HFS bought

72-539: A Jewish family, in Brooklyn , the son of the chief executive of commercial finance firm James Talcott Inc. Silverman graduated with a B.A. from Williams College and then a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School . He served in the United States Navy Reserves and then practiced tax law. Silverman began his career in business as an assistant to Steve Ross , who was then assembling

108-637: A Car out of bankruptcy for $ 110 million plus $ 2.8 billion in assumed debt. The combination of Budget with Avis made Cendant the second-largest car rental company in the U.S. In 2004, Cendant began a series of moves to simplify its business and focus on its core areas of real estate and travel. As part of this strategy, several non-core businesses were sold or spun off. In June 2004, Cendant sold Jackson Hewitt for $ 638 million through an initial public offering. In January 2005, Cendant spun off its mortgage and fleet management businesses as PHH Corporation . The next month, Cendant sold its Wright Express division,

144-633: A New York-based private equity firm. In March 2012, Silverman assumed a position as Vice Chairman of Asset Management at Guggenheim Partners , a New York-based private equity firm. Silverman has been married three times. In 1965, he married Susan Anne Herson; they had two children and divorced in 1977. In 1978, he married Nancy Ann Kraner; they had one child and divorced in 2012 after 30 years of marriage. In 2009 he moved into an apartment in 15 Central Park West in Manhattan. Hebdo Mag Trader Classified Media NV (formerly Hebdo Mag )

180-527: A corporate airplane and a company car and driver. Of greater attention was the compensation Silverman received in 2003. Silverman's 2003 compensation was estimated at $ 60 million, which included $ 14 million in cash salary and bonus, $ 37 million in stock options and $ 4.6 million paid as premiums on a company funded life insurance policy. In September 2006, Silverman championed the separation of Cendant Corporation into four independent companies. Cendant spun off its real estate brokerage division, Realogy which

216-512: A disastrous merger with CUC International , a direct marketing company that operated discount membership programs like Shoppers Advantage and Travelers Advantage. HFS and CUC combined in a "merger of equals" on December 18, 1997, to form Cendant Corporation. As part of the merger, Silverman announced he would reduce his day-to-day involvement with the company and assume the company's chairmanship in preference of CUC's founder and CEO Walter Forbes . In January 1998, Cendant purchased Jackson Hewitt ,

252-486: A federal grand jury and sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the company of directing the massive accounting fraud that ultimately cost the company and its investors billions of dollars. Shelton served 8 of his 10-year prison sentence before being released early for exemplary behavior. Former CEO Walter Forbes was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2007. Under Silverman, Cendant bounced back from

288-490: A franchised chain of tax preparation offices, for $ 480 million. Just months after the merger, in April 1998 Cendant uncovered massive accounting improprieties at CUC which resulted in one of the largest financial scandals of the 1990s. At the time, Vice Chairman E. Kirk Shelton was reported to have inflated the company's revenue by $ 500 million over a period of three years. He had reported a 1997 net income of $ 55.4 million when

324-400: A number of hotel franchises. Among Silverman's purchases were such brands as Ramada and Howard Johnson's as well as Days Inn , which he was able to buy for $ 290 million (almost half what he had sold it for) after the company had filed for bankruptcy in 1991. Hospitality Franchise Systems went public in a 1992 IPO . HFS was among the fastest growing companies of its size in the 1990s and

360-411: A provider of fleet cards , for $ 1.03 billion through an initial public offering. In October 2005, Cendant sold its marketing services division, including its membership shopping programs, to Affinion Group , a vehicle of Apollo Management , for $ 1.8 billion. Meanwhile, proceeds from these sales were used for acquisitions to expand Cendant's core businesses. In November 2004, Cendant purchased Orbitz ,

396-474: A short stint in investment banking, Silverman pursued a number of entrepreneurial ventures in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. In 1984, Silverman joined Reliance Group Holdings , which was run by corporate raider Saul Steinberg . Silverman then was president and CEO of Telemundo , the Spanish-language television network from 1986 through 1990. While at Reliance, Silverman acquired Days Inn ,

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432-566: The Affinion Group banner. These brands were separated into a new company called Travelport . These companies are owned by Wyndham Worldwide. Henry Silverman Henry R. Silverman (born August 1, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and private equity investor. Silverman is best known for his role in building Cendant Corporation into a multibillion-dollar business services company that provided car rentals, travel reservation services as well as real estate brokerage services and

468-475: The European market. The company also pushed several other European companies such as Swedish Gula Tidningen and Hungarian Expressz . On Aug 15, 1997, the company was purchased by CUC International for $ 440MIL In April 2000, the company went public and changed its name to Trader.com NV from Hebdo Mag. In September 2002, the company was renamed to Trader Classified Media NV. . In 2004, acquired 60% of

504-509: The Super 8 brand, franchised to 1,000 motels, for $ 125 million, and bought the 61-hotel Park Inn brand. The company made a brief foray into the casino industry, but then spun off that business in November 1994 as National Gaming . In 1995, HFS launched a new hotel brand, Wingate Inn . After company management found that they had mostly exhausted the field of desirable acquisition targets in

540-541: The Cendant board forced Forbes’ resignation and Silverman assumed the CEO post. Under Silverman, Cendant bounced back from the accounting scandal far outperforming the markets in the early 2000s. Silverman's compensation was the subject of scrutiny in 2004. In 2002, on the back of strong performance at Cendant, Silverman signed a 10-year contract that provided for medical benefits, office space as well as travel perks including

576-487: The Days Inn franchise out of bankruptcy for $ 290 million. This purchase made HFS the largest hotel franchisor in the world, with its brands licensed to 2,300 hotels. Blackstone took Hospitality Franchise Systems public in a December 1992 IPO . HFS was among the fastest growing companies of its size in the 1990s and the company's stock rose from its IPO price of $ 4 per share to $ 77 per share in 1998. In 1993, HFS purchased

612-779: The US hotel chain in a $ 590 million deal. Silverman is estimated to have made a $ 125 million profit on the sale of Days Inn. In 1990, Silverman accepted a position as partner at Blackstone Group , a private equity firm. However his tenure at Blackstone was cut short because of litigation between Prudential Insurance, one of Blackstone's largest investors, over a Steinberg deal in which Silverman had been involved. In 1991, he left to head Hospitality Franchise Systems, an investment of Blackstone's that Silverman had overseen. He would later build HFS into Cendant Corporation . Building on his experience with Days Inn, while at Blackstone Silverman created Hospitality Franchise Systems (HFS) which would acquire

648-608: The accounting scandal far outperforming the markets in the early 2000s. Following the fraud debacle, Cendant began selling businesses to reduce its debt and repair the financial damage caused by the accounting scandal. In 1998 the company sold Hebdo Mag , a publisher of classified advertising publications, for $ 450 million to a management buyout group. In 1999 it sold its consumer software division, Cendant Software (consisting of Blizzard Entertainment , Davidson & Associates , Knowledge Adventure , and Sierra On-Line ), to French publisher Havas for $ 770 million. By 2001, Cendant

684-454: The company bought the Wyndham hotel brand from Blackstone for $ 111 million. On October 23, 2005, Cendant's strategy of simplification culminated in the announcement that it would split into four separate companies, focused respectively on hotels, real estate, travel services, and rental cars. Silverman said the breakup would improve shareholder value by allowing the market to better recognize

720-553: The company's stock had risen from its IPO price of $ 4 per share to $ 77 per share by 1998. However, in 1998, Silverman led Cendant into what would prove a disastrous merger with CUC, a direct marketing company that operated Shoppers Advantage and Travelers Advantage (now part of Affinion Group . The $ 14 billion merger of HFS and CUC resulted in Cendant Corporation, which was formed in December 1997. Also, as part of

756-587: The future Warner Communications. Silverman had graduated from Williams College with a BA in Art History in 1961 and spent the following three years earning a JD from the University of Pennsylvania , where he graduated in 1964. Silverman left the job with Ross, which had been secured by Silverman's father, a well known businessman himself, to join White, Weld & Company an investment banking firm. After

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792-406: The hotel industry, Hospitality Franchise Systems expanded into the real estate business. Silverman hoped that HFS's skills at franchise management would bring success in fields outside of hospitality. In August 1995, it acquired Century 21 , a franchised chain of brokerages, from MetLife for $ 200 million. The company changed its name to HFS Inc. the same month, to reflect its broadened scope. This

828-416: The merger, Silverman announced he would reduce his day-to-day involvement with the company and assume the company's chairmanship in preference of CUC's founder and CEO Walter Forbes . Just months after the merger, in April 1998 Cendant uncovered massive accounting improprieties at CUC and resulted in one of the largest financial scandals of the 1990s. After the accounting scandal was uncovered, Silverman and

864-486: The operations of Avis's corporate-owned locations as a new company, Avis Rent a Car, Inc. HFS also bought Resort Condominiums International , a timeshare exchange service, for up to $ 825 million. In 1997, HFS acquired PHH Corp. for $ 1.8 billion. PHH's businesses of mortgage brokerage , relocation services , and fleet management were expected to synergize with HFS's real estate and car rental businesses. However, later that year, Silverman led HFS into what would prove

900-839: The private job portal InfoJobs . In 2005, Trader Media East was established comprising the Russian, Baltic, CIS and Eastern European operations of Trader Classified Media. In 2006, John MacBain began liquidation and selling of the company so he could focus on the McCall MacBain Foundation . In July 2006, Schibsted finalised the acquisition of parts of Trader Classified Media NV in Spain, Latin America, France, Italy and Switzerland. In February 2006 The Yellow Pages Group , publishers of directories in Canada purchased

936-557: The same "back end" system, but operate at different locations, offer different service levels, and have somewhat different pricing. After the Cendant name was dissolved, the car rental segment became known as Avis Budget Group and currently trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol CAR. These brands were spun off into Wyndham Worldwide . These companies are now under the Realogy banner. These companies are now under

972-586: The third-largest travel booking site in the U.S., for $ 1.2 billion. In December 2004, Cendant consolidated its control of the Ramada name by buying out Marriott International 's stake in the hotel brand. In February 2005, Cendant acquired Ebookers , the second-largest travel booking site in Europe, for $ 350 million. In April 2005, Cendant acquired Gullivers Travel Associates, a British seller of travel packages and wholesale hotel nights, for $ 1.1 billion. In October 2005,

1008-432: The true 1997 result was a net loss of $ 217.2 million. As these irregularities in the books of Cendant were discovered in early 1998, an audit committee set up by Cendant's Board of Directors launched an investigation and discovered that the former management team of CUC, including its top executives Walter Forbes and Kirk Shelton , had been fraudulently preparing false business statements for several years. When this report

1044-470: The value of Cendant's component businesses. Cendant originally planned to spin off its travel services division to shareholders as a company named Travelport , but on June 30, 2006, Cendant announced it would sell Travelport to Blackstone for $ 4.3 billion. On July 31, 2006, Cendant's real estate and hotel divisions were spun off and became separate companies under the names Realogy and Wyndham Worldwide , respectively. The sale of Travelport to Blackstone

1080-436: Was again in acquisition mode. It re-acquired the operations of Avis Rent a Car for $ 937 million. It made moves towards building a major online travel portal by acquiring Galileo International for $ 2.9 billion, and Cheap Tickets for $ 425 million. It entered the timeshare sales and management business by buying Fairfield Communities for $ 690 million, and Trendwest Resorts for $ 980 million. In 2002, Cendant bought Budget Rent

1116-451: Was also the largest franchisor of hotels globally. Among the brands that Silverman controlled included hotels and motels such as AmeriHost Inn , Days Inn , Howard Johnson's , Ramada , Super 8 and Travelodge ; car rental operators such as Avis Rent a Car System and Budget Rent a Car ; real estate brokerages such as Coldwell Banker , Century 21 Real Estate and Sotheby's International Realty ; as well as Orbitz Worldwide . Born to

Cendant - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-662: Was an international classified advertising company based in the Netherlands and run by Canadian John MacBain . The company was founded in 1987 as Hebdo Mag by John MacBain and Louise Blouin MacBain , a married couple. In 1990, the company made it first European publishing acquisition of La Centrale in France. This marked the companies growth outside of the Canadian and North American markets and into other markets like

1188-482: Was completed on August 23, 2006. This left Cendant with only its car rental business, comprising Avis, Budget Rent a Car, and Budget Truck Rental . The company retired the Cendant name and renamed itself to Avis Budget Group on September 1, 2006. Cendant owned the rental brands of Avis and Budget , holding these properties in the CCRG (Cendant Car Rental Group). Avis and Budget operate a shared fleet of cars, and have

1224-531: Was followed the next year with the acquisition of Electronic Realty Associates for $ 37 million, and Coldwell Banker for $ 740 million, making HFS the largest franchisor of real estate brokerages in the U.S. In 1996, HFS acquired the Avis car rental company for $ 793 million. In keeping with HFS's strategy of being primarily a franchisor, it kept ownership of the Avis brand name and reservations system, while selling off

1260-465: Was released to the public, the resulting damage to the market value for the company was approximately $ 14 billion, with their stock tumbling from a high of $ 41 down to nearly $ 12. At the time, this fiasco was the largest case of accounting fraud in the country's history. After the accounting scandal was uncovered, Silverman and the Cendant board forced Forbes’ resignation and Silverman assumed the CEO post. In March 2001, Forbes and Shelton were indicted by

1296-451: Was sold to Apollo Global Management and sold its travel distribution services division, Travelport , to The Blackstone Group . Cendant's hospitality services division, became a separate company Wyndham Worldwide . The remaining Cendant Corporation, which renamed itself Avis Budget Group , operates the company's car rental businesses. In February 2009, Silverman assumed a position as chief operating officer of Apollo Global Management ,

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