MIG-31

Travel, hotels and real-estate services company Cendant said on Monday that it would break itself up into four companies in an effort to boost the price of its stock.

Cendant also cut its earnings forecasts for the fourth quarter and for 2006.

The New York-based owner of Avis car rental, online travel agency Orbitz and the Century 21 real-estate brand said it expects to complete three tax-free spin-offs next summer. Its shareholders would hold 100 percent of the resulting four companies, which will specialize in car rentals, online travel arrangements, real estate and hotels.

No new names have been selected yet for the new companies, and the Cendant name will be retired.

Cendant, which has a market value of about $21 billion, also announced that it would report third-quarter earnings of 44 cents a share later Monday, at the low end of its previously forecast range and down 21 percent from the year-ago period.
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