The franchising firm, which owns brands like the Ramada Inn, Howard Johnson Hotels and car rental company Avis, is in talks to acquire Galileo International, an electronic travel reservations firm.
Absurdly, it is barred from bidding for franchises, while firms owned by the French, German and Dutch states are free to do so.
"Our third quarter clearly demonstrates the potential of the Evercore franchise," Ralph L. Schlosstein, the firm's chief executive, said in the statement.
The Exotic Marigold Hotel, with the sequel already having clocked up $46.7m from just 18 territories in three weeks, looks to have poured firm franchise foundations.
Directed by Irvin Kershner, the second installment in the Star Wars franchise beat off firm favourites such as The Lord of the Rings and Jaws to clinch the top spot.
It assumed that the individual alone was bringing in the revenue, and disregarded two important factors: the shareholders' capital that stood behind the business; and the brand or franchise of the firm for which the individual was working.Competition and co-operationRegulators attacking the banks may not stop at stripping out their equity research.
Jim Deitz, president of Andover Franchising, a consulting firm in Atlanta: "The company needs to be aggressively investing in advertising, not cutting back.
The government-owned service told staff on Tuesday that it planned to close three branches in Belfast and Antrim in Northern Ireland and Barry in south Wales, and is seeking to transfer 39 outlets to franchise agreements with firms such as WH Smith.
Other bidders are understood to include UTV, which owns TalkSport and the Ulster ITV franchise, and private equity firm Vitruvian Partners.
In July he sent a letter to E*Trade saying the directors had "squandered" the firm's franchise through a series of bad decisions.
