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Marriott International Inc. and France’s Sodexho Alliance SA said Wednesday they will combine their North American food-service and management businesses, creating the biggest company of its kind in the U.S.
Marriott will first spin off its hotel, senior housing and distribution businesses into a new company so that the transaction will be tax-free. The two food-service businesses will then be combined into a new company, which will be 51 percent owned by Marriott shareholders and 49 percent by Sodexho.
The move allows Marriott to get out of a low-margin industry and focus on its more lucrative business of managing hotels, analysts said.Food service accounted for less than 20 percent of its operating profit last year.
