Cendant Corp. will sell its marketing services division — a key direct marketer of membership clubs and insurance products — for nearly $1.83 billion to an affiliate of Apollo Management L.P., the travel services to real estate giant said yesterday.
The sale, to Apollo's Affinity Acquisition Holdings LLC unit, is part of Cendant's repositioning begun last year to focus more on real estate brands like Century 21 and travel services like the Avis car rental business.
Cendant, New York, said the deal should close in the fall after gaining financing and regulatory approvals as well as meeting customary closing conditions.
The sale follows last year's spinoff of Cendant's Jackson Hewitt Tax Services business. Part of the proceeds were used for the $1.25 billion purchase of online travel site Orbitz Inc. Cendant earlier this year spun off mortgage and fleet vehicle firm PHH Corp.
Cendant's marketing services division, based in Norwalk, CT, generated $1.5 billion in revenue last year from membership clubs and insurance products. The portfolio includes brands like Trilegiant, Progeny and Cims. The division, whose results Cendant classified as discontinued operations, has 3,600 employees in the United States and Europe. Cendant has nearly 85,000 employees worldwide.
