Car rental company Avis Budget Group Inc will purchase Zipcar Inc for about $500 million in cash to join larger rivals Hertz Global Holdings Inc and Enterprise Holdings Inc in the fast-growing U.S. car-sharing market.The offer of $12.25 per share represents a premium of 49 percent to Zipcar's Monday close. Zipcar's shares were up 48 percent at $12.16 before the bell on Wednesday."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," Avis Chief Executive Ronald Nelson said in a statement.Avis has been relegated to No.3 in the $22 billion U.S. car rental industry, after Hertz secured the No.2 spot with its acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group in August.
Avis Budget Group, Inc. (Avis Budget) operates two brands in the global vehicle rental industry through Avis and Budget. Shares of CAR remained unchanged at $19.82. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.59 and as high as $20.49. On average, 1253920 shares of CAR exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (Hertz Holdings) is a holding company. Shares of HTZ remained unchanged at $16.27. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.22 and as high as $16.78. On average, 6381010 shares of HTZ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 300.
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