EXHIBIT 99




                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Relations Contact:
Leslie Aun
Sodexho Marriott Services
(301) 987-4550

Investor Relations Contact:
Jim Duke
Sodexho Marriott Services
(301) 987-4333

                   SODEXHO MARRIOTT SERVICES SPECIAL COMMITTEE

                            RETAINS OUTSIDE ADVISERS

GAITHERSBURG, MD, February 27, 2001-- Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc. (NYSE:SDH)
announced today that the Special  Committee of its Board of Directors  appointed
to  evaluate  the  proposal  by Sodexho  Alliance,  S.A.  to acquire  all of the
outstanding  common  stock of Sodexho  Marriott  Services  not  already  held by
Sodexho  Alliance  for $27 per share in cash has retained UBS Warburg LLC as its
financial  adviser,  Shaw  Pittman as its legal  counsel  and Potter  Anderson &
Corroon LLP as its Delaware legal counsel to assist the Special Committee in its
evaluation of the proposal. Sodexho Alliance currently owns approximately 48% of
Sodexho Marriott Services' outstanding stock.

Sodexho Marriott Services,  Inc.  (NYSE-SDH) is the largest provider of food and
facilities  management  in North  America,  with $4.7  billion in annual  sales.
Sodexho




Advisers/Page 2

Marriott  Services  offers  a  variety  of  innovative   outsourcing  solutions,
including food service,  housekeeping,  grounds  keeping,  plant  operations and
maintenance,   asset  and  materials   management,   and  laundry   services  to
corporations,  health care facilities,  schools,  universities and colleges, and
remote  sites.  Headquartered  in  Gaithersburg,  MD, the  company  has  111,000
employees at 5,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada.


                                       ###