Cendant keeps options open for future of Realogy

If Cendant Corp.'s upcoming launch of an independent, publicly traded real estate company does not have a warm reception on Wall Street, the company may consider other options for that business, CEO and chairman Henry Silverman said today during a discussion of the company's first-quarter earnings. He did not rule out the potential for a post-spin-off private sale of the company's real estate segment, which re-branded this year as Realogy, or other business segments that the company plans to spin-off as separate companies. Silverman, who will serve as chairman and CEO for the first 18 months of the spin-off real estate company, prefaced the comment with a statement that there is no plan at this time to sell off the real estate business. Cendant officials announced in February that it would split into four separate companies: Realogy; a hotel company, Wyndham Worldwide; a car rental company, Avis Budget Group; and a Travel Distribution Services company. The planned launch of Realogy is...