Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New York City, the majority of its headquarters employees were in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey. Its last CEO was Henry Silverman. History Founding 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 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 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 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 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