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Cendant Real Estate Services Division Announces Online Mapping Technology Agreement With Microsoft

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 May 2006, 15:01 CDT

PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Real Estate Services Division of Cendant Corporation today announced an online mapping technology agreement with Microsoft Corp. . Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will provide its Virtual Earth commercial online mapping solutions for Cendant's real estate brand Web sites -- Century21.com, ColdwellBanker.com, ColdwellBankerCommercial.com, ERA.com and SothebysRealty.com -- and for the local operating company Web sites of NRT Incorporated. NRT is a Cendant subsidiary that is the largest owner and operator of residential real estate brokerages in the United States. The Real Estate Services Division will operate as Realogy Corporation upon completion of its anticipated spin-off from Cendant, which is expected to occur in June.

"We are pleased to be working with Microsoft on this technology initiative," said Richard A. Smith, chairman and CEO of Cendant's Real Estate Services Division. "We believe this agreement will enable us to deliver the best mapping solutions in the real estate industry and that the Microsoft Virtual Earth functionality will enhance the overall consumer experience on our Web sites."

Nearly 600,000 active property listings from Cendant's five real estate brands -- Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA and Sotheby's International Realty -- including listings from NRT local operating companies, will benefit from this improved online mapping functionality.

The Microsoft Virtual Earth offering is the platform that powers the Windows Live Local mapping service, which received a superior rating from PC World and was also the PC World "editor's pick." The Virtual Earth platform provides rich graphical mapping functionality, power aerial maps and one-of-a-kind bird's eye imagery that allows users to zoom in at a 45 degree angle, providing tremendous detail on selected areas.

"We are delighted that Cendant's Real Estate Services Division has chosen to integrate Virtual Earth's mapping and location services into its online offerings," said Stephen Lawler, general manager of the Virtual Earth Business Unit at Microsoft. "Virtual Earth's capabilities are tailor made for the real estate industry and it's great to see Cendant pioneering efforts to make this available to its customers."

About the Real Estate Services Division of Cendant Corporation

The Real Estate Services Division of Cendant Corporation will become Realogy Corporation upon the completion of its previously announced spin-off from Cendant, anticipated in June 2006. The Division consists of four primary business units: the Real Estate Franchise Group, representing approximately 15,000 residential and commercial franchised real estate offices and 310,000 sales associates affiliated with the Century 21(R), Coldwell Banker(R), Coldwell Banker Commercial(R), ERA(R) and Sotheby's International Realty(R) brand names; Cendant Mobility (which will become Cartus), a premier provider of employee relocation and global mobility services with six global service centers on four continents; NRT Incorporated, the nation's largest residential real estate brokerage company with operations in 35 major metropolitan markets; and Cendant Settlement Services Group (which will become Title Resource Group), a leading national provider of title, escrow and other settlement services.

Microsoft and Virtual Earth are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Cendant Real Estate

CONTACT: Mark Panus of Cendant, +1-973-496-7215, mark.panus@cendant.com

Web site: http://www.cendant.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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