A commercial Goliath is now stalking the internet, promising to crush any competition that stands in its way. Direct marketing company CUC International Inc has now formally completed its merger with HFS Inc, creating a new company, Cedant Corp, whose market value of around $29bn makes it one of the 100 largest companies in the US. But what really threatens competitors in the booming business of e-commerce is that Cedent has a unique marketing ploy that enables it to sell goods and services at cost price if necessary – and still rake in billions. Cedent makes most of its money charging members a $49 annual fee – and currently 73 million people have paid up worldwide to use its services. Its ambitions were summed up by chairman Walter Forbes: We want to sell every credit-worth house in the world – everything. Already Cedent is a leading franchisor of hotels and rental cars with brands including Ramada and Avis. It interests extend to real estate, travel, shopping, auto, restaurant and financial services. The company is moving from its telephone selling to the internet and claims monthly sales from its web sites of $400m a month. Forbes said after completion of the deal: We believe this merger enables us to leverage our customer base and marketing expertise to create unparalleled growth opportunities across all lines of business. Working together over the past six months, we have become even more excited about the synergies and efficiencies that we can achieve as a combined company.
