PARSIPPANY, NJ— The travel distribution services division of Cendant Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of Neat Group Inc., a developer and operator of packaging technology for the travel industry. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter, subject to customary and other approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed. Neats packaging engine enables customers to build customized travel packages from a number of discounted air, car and hotel inventory through one search at one price. Cendant plans to integrate Neat into CheapTickets.com and across its other travel distribution businesses. Also, Cendant intends to make Neats dynamic packaging technology available to travel agencies to offer their customers competitive deals and enable them to act as true merchants with more pricing control. As part of Cendant, Neat will continue to offer air, car and hotel suppliers the dual benefits of a private label booking engine for their own websites, as well as wider inventory distribution through a growing number of channels. Neats rules-based technology provides suppliers flexibility and real-time control over inventory and pricing, enabling improved revenue management over “published” and “net” rates. Neat also provides suppliers with easy-to-access detailed transaction reports by channel. A few of the leading suppliers that currently utilize Neats dynamic packaging product include Continental, US Airways, United Airlines, Avis, Budget, Hertz, Hyatt, Marriott, Harrahs, Omni, Outrigger, Ramada and Six Continents hotels.
