Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Avis buying up Zipcar for $500 million

  Avis Budget Group Inc. has put together a $500 million deal to acquire Zipcar Inc. the world's leading car sharing network,
 Avis has agreed to acquire Zipcar for $12.25 per share in cash, which represents  a 49 percent  premium over the closing price on December 31, 2012, which brought transaction value to the half-billion dollar mark.  The deal is expacted to yield savngs that will allow Zipcar to expand its carsharing business, executives from both companies said.
 The transaction is subject to approval by Zipcar shareholders and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2013.  Directors of both companies have approved the deal,  while Zipcar shareholders representing approximately 32 percent of the outstanding common stock have agreed to vote their shares in support of the transaction.
Car sharing has grown to be a nearly $400 million business in the United States and is expanding rapidly in major cities around the world. Zipcar has led this industry, leading in innovation and world-class service. Zipcar now has more than 760,000 members and a market-leading presence in 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States, Canada and Europe, and fleet positioned at over 300 college and university campuses.
"By combining with Zipcar, we will significantly increase our growth potential, both in the United States and internationally, and will position our Company to better serve a greater variety of consumer and commercial transportation needs," said Ronald L. Nelson, Avis Budget Group chairman and chief executive officer.
"We see car sharing as highly complementary to traditional car rental, with rapid growth potential and representing a scalable opportunity for us as a combined company. We expect to apply Avis Budget's experience and efficiencies of fleet management with Zipcar's proven, customer-friendly technology to accelerate the growth of the Zipcar brand and to provide more options for Zipsters in more places. We also expect to leverage Zipcar's technology to expand mobility solutions under the Avis and Budget brands," he said.
Avis Budget expects to generate $50 to $70 million in annual synergies as a result of the transaction. In particular, Avis Budget expects significant cost reductions across the fleet life cycle (from procurement to operations and maintenance to disposition, as well as financing), in addition to savings from eliminating Zipcar's public-company costs. Avis Budget also plans to achieve substantial cost savings by increasing fleet utilization across the two companies. Significant revenue growth opportunities exist, including by leveraging Avis Budget's fleet to meet more of Zipsters' weekend demand, which is currently constrained by fleet availability.
These synergies, combined with the expected growth and rising profitability of Zipcar, are expected to make the transaction accretive to Avis Budget's earnings per share in the second year following the acquisition, excluding certain items and purchase-accounting effects.
"We are delighted to announce our intention to join the Avis Budget Group family of companies, and we believe this combination is a win across the board for our members, shareholders and employees.  We will be well positioned to accelerate enhancements to the Zipcar member experience with more offers and additional services as well as an expanded network of locations," said Scott Griffith, chairman and chief executive officer of Zipcar. By Joseph Szczesny

1 Comments:

Blogger GaretT_T said...

Now imagine yourself in the boots of the fleet owner. In order to gain a lot of issues for workers and vehicles on a daily basis. What makes even worse, that employees are working remotely, and often the direct control. free fleet maintenance software

January 20, 2013 at 10:26 PM 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home