Dollar Thrifty shareholders to vote on Hertz offer at special meeting
By APThursday, September 30, 2010
Ahead of the Bell: Dollar Thrifty to vote on Hertz
CHICAGO — Shareholders of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. are set to vote at a special shareholder meeting Thursday on a buyout offer from rival Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
Dollar Thrifty’s board has already said it favors Hertz’s bid, worth about $50.88, over a higher per-share offer from Avis Budget Group.
Hertz and Avis Budget Group have been embroiled for months in a bidding spat over Dollar Thrifty, which can provide new leisure customers for both companies. These travelers are a key market segment for these companies right now because people are still traveling, even as businesses cut back.
Hertz’s offer consists of $43.60 in cash and 0.6366 shares of common stock of Hertz, for each share of Dollar Thrifty. Including restricted stock and stock options and cash, the offer is worth about $1.56 billion.
Hertz said on Wednesday that if the offer is rejected, it will not make any other offers.
Avis recently increased its offer from $40.75 to $45.79 per share in cash and 0.6543 shares of Avis Budget for each share of Dollar Thrifty. It values its offer at $53 per share, or about $1.52 billion in cash.
The meeting gets under way at 11 a.m. Eastern in Chicago.
Shares of Dollar Thrifty closed down 19 cents to $50.10 on Wednesday, while shares of Hertz rose 17 cents to close at $11.61. Shares of Avis closed up 20 cents to $11.52.
