HFS and GE Capital enter into joint agreement for co-branded credit cards; Five year license agreement provides for issuance of credit cards under the CENTURY 21 and Hotel Brand Names

Business Wire, Nov 22, 1995

PARSIPPANY, N.J.and STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 22, 1995--HFS Incorporated (NYSE:HFS) and GE Capital Consumer Card Co., a business unit of GE Capital Services, today announced a joint agreement for co-branded credit cards. The cards will be issued by GE Capital Consumer Card Co., using HFS's brand names in residential real estate and hotels.

Under the terms of the five-year agreement, GE Capital Consumer Card Co. will receive the exclusive license rights to issue co-branded credit cards using the CENTURY 21 brand and HFS's hotel brands. The cards will be offered to consumers in the United States at a competitive interest rate and will offer innovative reward programs focused on the homeowner and the traveling consumer. Currently, GE Capital has over seventy million cards worldwide.

Henry R. Silverman, HFS chairman and CEO, said, "This agreement represents our continuing efforts to further leverage our brands for the benefit of our franchisees and our shareholders. The marketing impressions of having hundreds of thousands of credit cards used by the consuming public is substantial. Additionally, consumer spending patterns have continued to be more focused on credit and this agreement enables HFS to participate in the revenues being generated by credit card usage."

"This is the first of what we believe will be several opportunities for HFS with General Electric, and we are excited by the prospects of working with this world-renowned financial and consumer products organization," Silverman added.

Michael Schauer, chairman of GE Capital Consumer Card Co., said, "We are extremely pleased with our new relationship with HFS. The relationship is consistent with our strategy of serving specialty markets with products that meet the needs of consumers and aligning ourselves with the industry leaders in those categories."

GE Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Co., is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Stamford. GE Capital's activities include equipment management, mid-marketing financing, specialized financing, specialty insurance, and consumer services. GE is a diversified manufacturing, technology and services company with operations worldwide.

HFS Inc. is the world's largest franchisor of hotels and residential real estate brokerage offices. Its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HFS." In lodging, the company has approximately 4,700 Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Park Inn International, Ramada, Super 8 and Villager Lodge franchised hotels with over 450,000 rooms in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe. In residential real estate, HFS has approximately 6,000 CENTURY 21 franchised offices in the United States and 12 other countries.

CONTACT: HFS Incorporated

Michael Wargotz, 201/952-8444

or

GE Capital Services

Tony Fuller, 203/357-6978