Homestore.com to Settle Cendant Lawsuit

Homestore.com Inc., the biggest lister of homes for sale on the Internet, said it has agreed to settle a $300-million lawsuit by Cendant Corp., which had sought to buy shares of Homestore.com before its initial public offering in August. The two companies allegedly had agreed to discuss the sale of shares to Cendant while Thousand Oaks-based Homestore.com was still privately held. In July, Cendant sued Homestore.com for breaching that alleged agreement. As part of the settlement, New York-based Cendant will receive 250,000 shares of Homestore.com’s common stock. Cendant will also reaffirm its agreement to exclusively endorse Homestore.com’s Internet-based services for use by its franchised Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA brokers and sales associates. Homestore.com shares jumped $5.88 to close at $39.50 on Nasdaq. Cendant shares closed up 63 cents at $16.81 on the NYSE.