EXHIBIT 99
                         SODEXHO MARRIOTT SERVICES, INC.
                           FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE OPERATING RESULTS

As indicated previously,  this report contains  forward-looking  statements that
are subject to a number of risks and  uncertainties.  Sodexho Marriott Services,
Inc. (the  "Company")  cautions  readers that the following  important  factors,
among others, in some cases have affected,  and in the future could affect,  the
Company's  actual  results of  operations.  The  factors  set forth below do not
constitute  all  factors  which  investors  should  consider  prior to making an
investment decision with respect to the Company's securities. Further, investors
should not assume that the  information  contained below is complete or accurate
in all  respects  following  the date of this  filing.  The  Company  assumes no
obligation  to  update  any  forward-looking  statements  or any of the  factors
discussed below.

     CHANGES IN  OPERATIONS.  On March 27,  1998,  the Company,  formerly  named
Marriott International, Inc. (as formerly named, "Old Marriott"),  consummated a
series of transactions (the "Transactions")  that, among other things,  resulted
in: (i) a spin-off  to Old  Marriott's  stockholders  of all  businesses  of Old
Marriott other than its food service and facilities  management business through
a special  dividend of stock in a new company which now uses the name  "Marriott
International,  Inc." ("New Marriott"); (ii) the acquisition through a merger of
the North American operations of Sodexho Alliance,  S.A. ("Sodexho");  and (iii)
the refinancing of certain outstanding indebtedness. Following the Transactions,
the Company  was  renamed  Sodexho  Marriott  Services,  Inc. As a result of the
Transactions,   the  Company's   operations  were  significantly   changed.  The
distribution of the lodging  business  narrowed the Company's  operations to its
food service and facilities  management business (as expanded by the addition of
the North  American  operations  of  Sodexho),  and  caused the  Company's  debt
obligations,  as a  percentage  of its assets,  to increase  significantly.  The
Company's  business  strategy  is  based on the  belief  that it will be able to
expand its business,  and reduce its debt over a reasonable  period of time, and
be able to attract, hire, train and retain competent employees.  There can be no
assurance,  however,  that the Company's efforts to execute all elements of this
strategy will be successful, or that a failure to do so will not have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business,  results of operations,  and financial
condition.  In  addition,  because the Company is less  diversified  than it was
prior to the Transactions, the results of operations of the Company will be more
susceptible to competitive and market factors specific to its core businesses.

     LIMITED HISTORY. The Company has been operating less than three years as an
independent, publicly owned, food service and facilities management company. The
Company's  management has limited  experience in operating and managing a public
company  with  indebtedness  that  exceeds  its  assets,  or in  integrating  an
acquisition the size of Sodexho North America.  The Company also must take steps
to assure that certain corporate  services now being provided to the Company for
limited periods of time by New Marriott eventually will be adequately  performed
by the Company or  third-party  contractors.  Any or all of these  factors could
have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, results of operations,
and financial condition.

     SUBSTANTIAL  INDEBTEDNESS.  The  Company's  indebtedness  under its  credit
facility  agreements is currently  about $1 billion and bears  interest at rates
that float with certain indices. The size of the Company's  indebtedness and the
restrictive covenants, events of default and other restrictions on the Company's
activities  contained in its credit facility  agreements may limit the Company's
ability  to  respond  to  market   conditions,   satisfy   capital   expenditure
requirements,  meet contractual or financial obligations, incur additional debt,
invest in information  technology  infrastructure or engage in other activities.
As a result,  significant  losses or lower  profits  by the  Company  or certain
activities  by it could  cause the  Company to  violate  the terms of its credit
facility  agreements  and thereby  impair the Company's  liquidity and limit its
ability to raise additional capital.  Moreover, a failure by the Company to make
required  debt  payments  could  result  in an  acceleration  of  the  Company's
indebtedness, in which case the lenders thereunder would be entitled to exercise
their remedies,  including  foreclosing on collateral.  In view of the Company's
substantial leverage,  any new financings and refinancings by the Company of the
Company's indebtedness, if available at all, may be at higher interest rates and
may contain terms significantly less advantageous than would have been available
to the Company absent the  Transactions.  In addition,  a rise in interest rates
would cause the  Company's  payment  obligations  to  increase,  even though the
Company  has  hedged a  significant  portion  of its  interest  rate  risk.  The
occurrence  of any of these  events  could  restrict  the  Company's  ability to
finance its future  operations,  meet capital needs or engage in other  business
activities that may be in the interest of the Company. There can be no assurance
that the  Company  will be able to obtain  additional  capital,  if  needed,  on
acceptable  terms,  or that the occurrence of any of the foregoing  events would
not have a  material  adverse  effect  on the  Company's  business,  results  of
operations and financial condition.


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     CONTRACTUAL  ARRANGEMENTS.  The Company's ability to continue the growth of
its food service and facilities  management  business  depends on whether it can
continue  to obtain  new  contracts,  or  renewals  of  existing  contracts,  on
satisfactory  terms. The majority of the food service and facilities  management
contracts of the Company are either based on fixed-price  terms or terminable by
clients on short notice (generally from 30 to 120 days), or both. Therefore, the
Company's  results of operations  are  dependent to a significant  extent on its
ability to estimate and control costs  associated with the provision of services
under these contracts.  The Company's costs are subject to increases as a result
of rising  labor and supply  costs,  many of which are outside its  control.  In
addition,   the  terms  of  the  Company's  operating  contracts,   distribution
agreements,  franchise  agreements  and leases are  influenced by contract terms
offered by the Company's  competitors,  general economic  conditions,  and other
factors.  There can be no assurance  that some or all of these  factors will not
adversely  affect the Company's  operating  margins or its ability to enter into
satisfactory  future contracts,  or that these factors would not have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business,  results of operations,  and financial
condition.

     COMPETITION.  The food service and  facilities  management  industries  are
highly competitive. The Company competes in these industries with numerous other
vendors of varying sizes,  many of which have significant  financial  resources.
The continued success of the Company will be dependent,  in large part, upon its
ability  to  compete  in  such  areas  as the  quality  of food  and  facilities
management services,  the nature and scope of specialized services, and upon the
Company's ability to contain costs.

     ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS.  A decline in  international,  national  or  regional
economic  conditions  could result in reduced demand for the outsourcing of food
and facilities  management  services and create pressure on the Company to enter
into contractual  arrangements  less favorable than those currently in effect or
under consideration.  Accordingly,  such a decline could have a material adverse
effect  on  the  Company's  business,   results  of  operations,  and  financial
condition. Also, low levels of unemployment, or other factors, could cause labor
costs to increase and could cause the Company to have  unfilled  positions  that
could impair its service  levels.  This could result in increased costs incurred
by the  Company,  some of which may not be  recoverable  from  clients and could
impair the retention of existing clients.

     LIMITED  GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS. The Company is not currently  expected to expand
its international  presence beyond Canada. The Company's licensing  arrangements
with New Marriott and Sodexho to use the names  "Marriott"  and "Sodexho"  cover
only the U.S.  and Canada.  As a  practical  matter,  since the Company  will be
allowed to use its corporate name only in the U.S. and Canada, and since Sodexho
controls or has significant  interests in companies competing in other countries
in the food service and facilities  management  sector,  it is unlikely that the
Company will engage in significant  operations outside the U.S. and Canada. As a
result,  the Company  will be more  susceptible  to a downturn  in the U.S.  and
Canadian  economies  than a company  that is actively  engaged in various  other
markets.

     RELATIONSHIP  WITH SODEXHO.  As part of the  Transactions,  the Company and
Sodexho  entered  into certain  arrangements  under which  Sodexho  provides the
Company with a variety of consulting and advisory  services and other assistance
and has  guaranteed a portion of the  Company's  indebtedness.  Sodexho also has
licensed to the Company the use of the name "Sodexho."  These  arrangements  may
have the effect of causing the Company to be reliant to a substantial  degree on
its relationship  with Sodexho.  Thereto,  any issues which may adversely impact
Sodexho's image could negatively  impact the Company as well. In addition,  each
of these  arrangements  has a finite  term,  and the  failure  to renew any such
arrangements  on comparable  terms could have a material  adverse  effect on the
Company's  business,  results  of  operations,  and  financial  condition.  This
relationship  may also  require  the  Company's  management  to focus on  issues
arising from cultural and geographic  differences,  rather than on the strategic
initiatives specifically designated for the North American marketplace.  Adverse
effects  might also result in the event  Sodexho were to encounter  financial or
other  difficulties  that  could  prevent it from  providing  such  services  or
assistance to the Company.

     SEASONAL NATURE OF THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS.  The food service and facilities
management business has been characterized historically by seasonal fluctuations
in overall demand for services, particularly in the education sector where sales
are stronger  during the  academic  year.  There can be no assurance  that these
fluctuations will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's  business,
results of operations, and financial condition.



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     CERTAIN  ANTI-TAKEOVER  EFFECTS.  As of  September  1, 2000,  Sodexho,  the
Company's  largest  stockholder,  beneficially  owned  approximately  48% of the
outstanding shares of the Company's common stock. Sodexho has agreed pursuant to
a tax sharing and indemnification  agreement entered into among the Company, New
Marriott  and Sodexho not to acquire 50% or more of the  Company's  common stock
for  three  years  after  the  Transactions  or  through  March  27,  2001.  The
certificate of  incorporation of the Company  generally  provides that no person
may  acquire  50% or more of the  Company's  common  stock until the end of such
period.  Consequently,  no change in control of the Company is expected to occur
before March 27, 2001. In addition,  because Sodexho owns a large  percentage of
the Company's common stock it may be able to exercise significant influence over
many matters requiring stockholder approval. Pursuant to a stockholder agreement
with the Company,  Sodexho also has the right to nominate  three  members of the
Company's Board. As a result,  Sodexho's  relationship with the Company may have
the effect of, among other things, preventing a change in control of the Company
at any time without the agreement of Sodexho.

     USE OF  TRADENAMES.  New Marriott has licensed the  "Marriott"  name to the
Company  in  certain  limited  respects  for a period  of four  years  after the
Transactions,  or through March 27, 2002. The Company will not have the right to
use the  "Marriott"  name  after the  expiration  of the  four-year  period.  In
addition, Sodexho has licensed the "Sodexho" name to the Company under a royalty
agreement having a ten-year term. The "Sodexho" name, which has been used in the
food service and  facilities  management  business in North America for the four
years  prior to the  Transactions,  is not as well  known in that  market as the
"Marriott"  name.  The  Company  may  have to make  additional  expenditures  to
position its new name in the  marketplace  and cannot predict with certainty the
extent  to  which  the  substitution  of a new  name may  adversely  affect  its
retention and  acquisition of clients.  Further,  to the extent that the Company
fails to perform its obligations under its license  agreements with New Marriott
or Sodexho,  each of New Marriott  and Sodexho  could  successfully  prevent the
Company from using their  respective  names,  which could  adversely  affect the
Company's retention and acquisition of clients and its financial performance.

     DIVIDEND  POLICY.  Prior to the  Transactions,  the  Company  paid  regular
quarterly  dividends.  On October 13,  1999,  the  Company's  Board of Directors
declared a  dividend  for fiscal  year 1999 of $0.08 per common  share,  paid on
December 10, 1999 to shareholders of record on November 22, 1999. In the future,
the Company may pay dividends, subject to the restrictive covenants contained in
the Company's credit facility agreements and other relevant  considerations.  In
general, the restrictive covenants do not permit the Company to pay dividends to
stockholders  in an amount  greater than 40 percent of the Company's net income,
or 45 percent when the ratio of the  Company's  consolidated  debt to EBITDA (as
defined in the documentation for the credit facility  agreements) is less than 4
but not less than 3. This  restriction  will no longer  apply when such ratio is
less than 3. The payment and amount of cash  dividends on the  Company's  common
stock will be subject to the sole discretion of the Company's Board,  which will
review the Company's dividend policy at such times as may be deemed appropriate.
Payment  of  dividends  on the  Company's  common  stock  will  depend  upon the
Company's financial position, capital requirements, profitability and such other
factors as the Company's Board deems relevant.

     FLUCTUATING  PRICES OF THE  COMPANY'S  COMMON STOCK.  The Company's  common
stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange and certain other U.S.
exchanges.   Prices  at  which  the  Company's  common  stock  trades  fluctuate
significantly and could be influenced by many factors,  including, among others,
the continuing depth and liquidity of the market for the Company's common stock,
investor  perception of the Company,  the Company's  dividend policy and general
economic and market conditions.