Cendant mortgage sale falls apart

Cendant Corp. has ended talks with an unnamed potential buyer of its mortgage business, but the company is still looking to sell that unit, Cendant announced Tuesday afternoon.

Cendant had announced in July that it was in discussions with a potential buyer, but did not reveal the buyer's name then or in the current announcement. After the first announcement, some observers speculated that home loan giant Countrywide Financial was the expected buyer.

Cendant had anticipated that the potential transaction, if completed, would have resulted in net proceeds to the company at the time of sale of between $750 million and $1 billion, after repayment of about $5 billion to $6 billion of associated debt.

Cendant said it is continuing to receive proposals and holding preliminary discussions with other parties about the sale of its mortgage business. It also is continuing to consider other strategic alternatives to the business.

New York City-based Cendant primarily provides travel and residential real estate services. Cendant (NYSE: CD) stock slipped 18 cents to $21.58 Tuesday afternoon.

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