Leading European car hire outfit Avis has unveiled plans for raising cash from shareholders worth £151 million.

The move will aid the rental group, currently in a complex bidding war with rival company Hertz for the takeover of the Dollar Thrifty brand, to consolidate its financial stability and undertake wider expansion plans. The greatly discounted share offer has won the backing of D’Ieteren, the Brussels-based majority shareholder – with a 60 per cent stake.

The Avis Group, which, along with partner Budget provides rental vehicles to seven million customers every year across the continent, further announced it had also secured an updated credit arrangement to take over from the incumbent deal which was due to expire in February next year

The new share offer will generate resources that will enable the Avis group  resources to pursue greater growth opportunities,  notably the Dollar Thrifty bid, and follows the  recent debt reduction announced in May, where major reductions were made to the 812 million euros (£668 million) debts owed. This continued the slow upswing in profits and marked the first time that Avis had seen positive revenue growth since May last year.

The UK market was at the forefront of the recovery, with more consumers returning to the car hire industry after a disastrous 2009 across the travel and tourism industry. However, other key countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and France continue to lag behind in terms of sales and revenues.

The offer price of 15p per share represents a massive discount of 56.8 per cent compared to current trading prices.