Hertz (HTZG.Q) has completed its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG), an $87.50-per-share deal valued at around $2.3 billion, the company announced today.
Hertz and Dollar Thrifty had originally agreed to terms of the deal in late August, but it had to be cleared by antitrust regulators. Dollar Thrifty is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Hertz, and will continue to operate under the Dollar Thrifty brand.
The Federal Trade Commission announced last week that Hertz had agreed to sell its Advantage Rent A Car business as well as the rights to operate 29 Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group on-airport locations around the country as part of a deal to settle anticompetition concerns. "American consumers rent more than 50 million vehicles at airports nationwide each year, spending $11 billion, so this is a real pocketbook issue for everyday people," said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in a press release.
Hertz says it plans to sell its Simply Wheelz subsidiary, which owns and operates Advantage, to Macquarie Capital subsidiary Adreca Holdings.
In announcing the completion of the Dollar Thrifty acquisition, Hertz Chairman and CEO Mark Frissora said, "In the 94-year history of Hertz, our employees and business partners have never been this excited. ... Starting today, we now have two additional, popular brands to compete across multiple market segments, with plans to offer them to our many partners and customers."
The acquisition of Dollar Thrifty solidifies Hertz' place as the second largest U.S. car rental agency, with a combined market cap of approximately $6.5 billion. Privately held Enterprise Holdings, which includes the Enterprise, National, and Alamo brands, remains the largest.
