Leading car rental companies have joined the growing chorus of organisations keen to fill the gaps in funding brought about by reduced bank lending.
In the past week, Europcar has generated 250 million euros through bond issues aimed at providing assistance to boost their rental fleets, while rival Hertz raised 400 million euros through a similar undertaking. Europe’s other leading player, Avis Europe, has also announced their intention to raise up to 130 million euros through a new stock issue.
Barclays Capital’s high-yield credit analyst, Eugene Regis, said the move would result in a potential higher payment to the respective companies for [...]

Car rental leader Hertz has moved to reassure staff and investors at Dollar Thrifty over job levels.
Hertz has announced that the potential takeover bid for Dollar Thrifty would not affect staffing for a minimum of three months; with the company’s Tulsa-based workforce guaranteed stability for that period should the proposed $1.3 billion acquisition go ahead.
Hertz CEO Mark Frissora made the announcement, and added that Hertz will continue the incumbent base wage, benefit, bonus and severance pay schemes for a minimum of 15 months after the conclusion of the transaction.
Frissora’s assurances came via a letter to letter to Dollar Thrifty CEO [...]

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 [...]

The Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group has announced a new cash injection as it slowly rights itself from a bleak 2009.
Dollar Thrifty has advised that it has raised $300 million in revenue from a three-year financing deal which involved the private placement of asset-backed securities from its rental car operations, giving the company a much needed boost as it continues to come under the spotlight of potential takeover bids from both Hertz and Avis.
The announcement means that Dollar Thrifty has finally managed to swing back into the black over the past financial quarter as the car hire industry starts to see [...]

The Avis Budget group has been asked by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to provide additional information for its takeover bid for Dollar Thrifty.
Avis, the second largest car hire company in the US, has declared that it will cooperate with the FTC at all stages of the process of the takeover bid, which has entered its due diligence phase of the potential transaction. Lawyers representing Avis have claimed that the request from the FTC is just part of the overall process and that it should not be interpreted in any way.
Rival car rental giant Hertz is also attempting to woo [...]

Fairholme Capital, the third largest shareholder in Hertz Global Holdings, has cut its stake in the car rental giant.
A reduction of over a third was announced by Fairholme Capital Management LLC, leaving the group with just an 8.5 per cent stake in the car rental specialist.
Through its numerous investment vehicles, Fairholme Capital now owns roughly 34.9 million shares in Hertz, according to its filing late last week. The group had previously owned around 56.2 million shares – equivalent to 13.6 per cent of the total Hertz Global Holdings portfolio.
Despite the downsizing of its stake, Fairholme Capital still remains the third [...]

A new game from the leading car rental specialist just in time for the World Cup.
With the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa now firmly underway, Avis is looking to capitalise on the football fever which is sweeping the globe with the launch of the new interactive game Road to Glory.
The game is designed for sports and quiz fans, and will be played out online, with a format similar to the World Cup itself. UK residents will be given the chance to partake in the ‘online tournament’, with the first prize being a week’s car hire from Avis anywhere [...]

The FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa has not seen the anticipated upsurge in demand, leaving business prospects uncertain.
The seeming acceptance of the situation followed the drastic reduction in forecasts and bookings of foreign visitors to South Africa for the tournament. Several large clients and sponsors have also declined to attend the championship, citing the slow pace of economic recovery as the reason for reluctance to outlay costs.
In South Africa, figures for the sale of new vehicles to car rental companies rose significantly in the first quarter of 2010, with 9407 units sold representing an 89 per cent increase [...]

Leading car rental companies Budget, Avis and Thrifty have featured on the list of most visible car hire websites.
Statistics released by Greenlight, the specialist researcher and technology consulting firm, have shown that UK users made 1.4 online searches related to car hire, with Avis, Thrifty and Budget all ascending into the top ten.
Total searches fell slightly from March, with worldwide destinations making up 44 per cent of the searches, and while the major players all maintained or increased their levels of visibility, a number of new players have also emerged onto the scene.
The report entitled Car Hire April 2010 from [...]

The counter offer from Avis Budget Group for Dollar Thrifty faces a difficult road ahead say analysts.
With Avis having launched its due diligence, all sides have now fallen silent. However, the recent economic instability means the offer will be harder to finance, and the falling stock price means an Avis share bid could also present difficulties.
Bill Kavaler, analysts with Oscar Gruss, thinks these factors will force Avis into spending more cash than originally intended. However, Dollar Thrifty has already questioned the ability of Avis to counter in cash the Hertz offer of $1 billion. They have also claimed that substantial [...]