Metlife To Sell Century 21 Division

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. will sell its Century 21 real estate division to Hospitality Franchise Systems Inc. for about $230 million, the companies announced Wednesday.

Century 21 Real Estate Corp. is one of the world’s leading residential real estate companies, with about 6,000 independently owned and operated franchises in 11 countries. The Irvine, Calif.-based company reported revenues last year of $130 million.

The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, is Hospitality’s first move into the residential real estate brokerage industry. The Parsippany, N.J.-based company is a major hotel franchiser, with Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada and Super 8.

The price of the deal is $200 million in cash and stock, plus an additional $30 million contingent upon certain levels of U.S. existing home sales from 1995 to 1997.

The sale comes as MetLife strives to refocus on its core insurance business.