EXHIBIT 99.(a)(1)(G)
CENDANT CORPORATION COMMENCES TENDER OFFER FOR ALL OF THE OUTSTANDING SHARES OF
CHEAP TICKETS, INC. COMMON STOCK AT $16.50 PER SHARE
NEW YORK and HONOLULU, Aug. 23 -- Cendant Corporation (NYSE: CD) and Cheap
Tickets, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTIX) announced that Diamondhead Acquisition Corporation,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant, is commencing today a cash tender offer
for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Cheap Tickets at a price of
$16.50 per share. The tender offer is being made pursuant to an Offer to
Purchase, dated August 23, 2001, and in connection with an Agreement and Plan of
Merger dated as of August 13, 2001 among Cendant, Diamondhead and Cheap Tickets.
The tender offer is scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time,
on Friday, September 21, 2001.
Certain stockholders owning approximately 47% of the outstanding common stock of
Cheap Tickets have agreed with Cendant to tender their shares in the tender
offer.
Following completion of the tender offer and receipt of stockholder approval, if
required, Cendant intends to consummate a merger in which Diamondhead will be
merged with and into Cheap Tickets. Cheap Tickets will then be a wholly owned
subsidiary of Cendant. Any remaining Cheap Tickets stockholders will receive
the same cash price paid in the tender offer.
The Board of Directors of Cheap Tickets has unanimously approved the Merger
Agreement and recommends that Cheap Tickets stockholders accept the offer and
tender their shares.
The tender offer is subject to conditions, including tender of that number of
shares of Cheap Tickets common stock that, when added to the shares beneficially
owned by Cendant, if any, represents at least a majority of the outstanding
common stock of Cheap Tickets on a fully diluted basis, expiration or
termination of any waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust
Improvement Act of 1976, as amended, or under applicable foreign merger control
regulations, and to other customary conditions.
The Depositary for the tender offer is Mellon Investor Services, L.L.C., 85
Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660.
The Dealer Manager for the tender offer is Goldman, Sachs & Co., 85 Broad
Street, New York, New York 10004.
The Information Agent for the tender offer is Georgeson Shareholder
Communications Inc., 17 State Street, 10th Floor, New York, New York 10004.
Cendant Corporation is primarily a provider of travel and residential real
estate services. With approximately 57,000 employees, New York City-based
Cendant provides these services to businesses and consumers in over 100
countries.
More information about Cendant, its companies, brands and current SEC filings
may be obtained by visiting the Company's Web site at http://www.Cendant.com or
by calling 877-4INFO-CD (877-446-3623).
Cheap Tickets is a leading seller of discount leisure travel products, with the
majority of sales derived from non-published and published airline tickets both
on-line and off-line. Cheap Tickets is one of the leading on-line travel
agencies, with over 3 million unique visitors per month. On average, Cheap
Tickets sells one ticket every 10.5 seconds. For 2001, Cheap Tickets expects
its annual gross travel bookings to exceed $800 million, and to generate in
excess of 8 million Global Distribution System (GDS) segments through 2.6
million transactions. The company was founded in 1986 as a traditional travel
agency, and since launching its website in October 1997, Cheap Tickets has been
successful in deriving approximately 40 percent of its gross travel bookings
from its Internet channel.
Statements in this release which are not historical facts or information
constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current
expectations and the current economic environment. Cendant and Cheap Tickets
caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual
results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-
looking statements. Important assumptions and other important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-
looking statements are specified in Cendant's Form 10-K/A for the year ended
December 31, 2000, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2001 and
subsequently filed periodic reports, and in Cheap Tickets' Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2000, Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended
March 31, 2001 and subsequently filed periodic reports, if any.
This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer
to sell securities of Cheap Tickets. The tender offer is being made pursuant to
a tender offer statement and related materials. Investors and security holders
are strongly advised to read both the tender offer statement and the
solicitation/recommendation statement regarding the tender offer referred to in
this press release, because they contain important information. The tender
offer statement will be filed by Cendant with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), and the solicitation/recommendation statement will be filed by
Cheap Tickets with the SEC. Investors and security holders may obtain a free
copy of these statements and other documents filed by Cendant and Cheap Tickets
at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
The tender offer statement and related materials may be obtained for free by
directing such requests to Georgeson Shareholder Communication Inc., 17 State
Street, 10th Floor, New York, New York 10004, or by calling toll free
(800) 223-2064.
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