Avis Announces Third Q Numbers and Steers Clear of Discussing Cendant Buy-in Bid

It’s been more than two months since Avis Group Holdings Inc. announced Cendant Corp.’s $29-per-share squeeze-out offer for the 82% of Avis it doesn’t own, and the target remains mostly mum. On Avis’s third quarter conference call this morning, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Barry Rand made it crystal clear from the outset that management would not discuss the status of the offer. Indeed, anticipating a spate of questions during the question-and-answer segment following the presentation, Rand began his discussion by saying, “First, the Cendant proposal. As you are aware, . . . Cendant [made] an unsolicited, non-binding proposal . . . At this point, [there’s] nothing new to report.” To this reporter’s ears, he seemed to emphasize the adjectival phrase “non-binding.”