Marriott Announces Plans To Transfer Business Services To Accenture; Accenture To Provide Finance And Accounting Services To Marriott; Accenture To Form Accenture Hospitality Services

BETHESDA, Md. and NEW YORK, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Leveraging the strengths of both organizations, Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced plans for a strategic collaboration through which Marriott will transition the services provided by its Louisville, Tenn.-based Marriott Business Services (MBS) finance and accounting (F&A) unit to Accenture, and Accenture will provide F&A services to Marriott and its franchisees.

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In conjunction with the collaboration, Accenture will create a new business service, Accenture Hospitality Services (AHS), built in part around the operations and capabilities coming from Marriott's MBS unit. Accenture Hospitality Services will provide management consulting, technology and business process outsourcing services to companies in the hospitality industry.

The plan includes the transfer of MBS and its associates to Accenture, and the Louisville operation, just outside of Knoxville, will become an Accenture center of excellence for finance and accounting business process outsourcing and provide those services to Marriott as part of AHS. The best-in-class capabilities from MBS will be combined with proprietary assets, business processes, and software, as well as analytics capabilities for the hospitality sector.

The arrangement is designed to provide Marriott's hotel owners with savings and benefits over a 10-year period comprised of lower costs for a range of business services that will be delivered by Accenture.

Carl Berquist, Marriott International's chief financial officer, said, "Our announcement will provide a new pathway to opportunities for our MBS business and associates. Capitalizing on both the foundation MBS has built since its inception in 2001 and Accenture's economies of scale, Accenture Hospitality Services will immediately be able to attract customers throughout the hospitality industry – something MBS could not do as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott.   AHS will also benefit from Accenture's substantial resources, including people, marketing systems and process management, to enhance operations and attract Accenture customers across other industries, generating even more growth opportunities."

Paul Loftus, global managing director of Accenture's Hospitality Industry Group said, "By combining the world-class financial processes developed by MBS with Accenture's scale and cross-industry expertise, Accenture will create a new business service to help lodging and hospitality companies better target strategic outcomes, achieve greater agility and drive new growth areas. We look forward to offering new career opportunities for MBS associates as we develop and grow AHS."

Subject to final contract execution, the agreement envisions transition of MBS operations and services to Accenture beginning in August, with the full transition being largely complete by early September.

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with more than 3,800 properties in 74 countries and territories.  The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 18 brands.  For more information or reservations, please visit our website at www.marriott.com, and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 261,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com

Note on forward-looking statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of federal securities laws, including the expected timing and completion of the transfer of MBS, the anticipated benefits to hotel owners, the ability of AHS to attract customers throughout the hotel industry, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including agreement by the parties on, and execution of, final contracts; changes in market conditions; the continuation and pace of the economic recovery; and competitive conditions in the lodging industry.  Some of the additional factors that could cause actual results to differ are discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in each of Marriott's and Accenture's most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and are incorporated herein by reference. Any of these factors as well as other risks could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations we express or imply in this press release. We make these forward-looking statements as of June 19, 2013. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.