A consortium of Volkswagen Group, Attestor Limited and Pon Holdings B.V. have launched a $3.4 billion (£2.4bn) takeover of car rental provider Europcar. The board of Europcar Mobility Group has welcomed a tender offer of €0.50 for all outstanding shares. This will be increased to €0.51 if more than 90% of the share capital and voting rights are transferred. Europcar has more 3,500 sites across 140-plus countries and a fleet of more than 350,000 vehicles, serving more than five million customers a year, according to the lastest figures.
Volkswagen Group said that the transaction with Europcar, which is subject to approval by the French Stock Market Authority (AMF) and relevant antitrust authorities, was a “compelling opportunity to create a leading mobility platform”, which is a key part of VW Group’s new strategy to become a leading provider of individual mobility.
Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said: “Europcar provides advanced fleet management capabilities as well as a broad network of stations at major airports, railway stations and city locations and will help accelerate Volkswagen’s delivery of its ambitious mobility services targets. Together with our consortium partners Attestor and Pon, we will support the development and transformation of Europcar’s business and selectively add further services from Volkswagen Group brands.”
Caroline Parot, CEO of Europcar Mobility Group, said: “This agreement has the potential to supercharge this growth, by enabling our Group to strengthen its customer proposition, by developing sustainable alternatives to vehicle ownership. “For our customers as well as for our employees, two global mobility service companies joining forces today makes a lot of sense and has great value creation potential: together, we could have a big impact on how mobility ecosystems transform and adapt to mobility current and future challenges.”
Alexandre de Juniac, chairman of the board of directors at Europcar Mobilty Group, added: “The board of directors welcomes this agreement: Volkswagen, which is leading the consortium, is a long-standing business partner of our Group, Pon is an expert in international mobility services and Attestor, with its deep transformation capabilities, was a key partner in our financial restructuring. “Their forces, combined with Europcar Mobility Group’s assets and strategic roadmap, could leverage unique growth opportunities in mobility ecosystems.”
The consortium intends to set up a joint holding company for the transaction (Green Mobility Holding), which Volkswagen will have a majority shareholding in. However, Volkswagen will not control Green Mobility Holding and neither Green Mobility Holding nor Europcar will be consolidated into Volkswagen Group. All transactions with Green Mobility Holding and Europcar will be on an “arms’ length” basis, the Volkswagen Group said.