Regulators approve VW acquisition of Europcar
Vehicle rental giant Europcar Mobility Group has taken a step closer to joining Volkswagen's mobility platform after French financial market regulators approved the proposed acquisition of Europcar by Green Mobility Holding, a special purpose company that is majority owned by Volkswagen.
A consortium of Volkswagen, asset manager Attestor and mobility products and services provider Pon Holdings have offered shareholders €0.50 per Europcar share, plus a potential additional €0.01 per share if the consortium succeeds in securing at least 90% of the share capital and voting rights by the end of the offer period on December 30, 2021. The deal values Europcar at €2.9 billion.
Green Mobility Holding made its initial offer for Europcar in September, and has been awaiting regulator approval.
Europcar’s Board of Directors have unanimously backed the deal., which would see Volkswagen own 66% of Europcar, Attestor own 27%, and Pon own 7%.
The proposed price (including the extra €0.01 per share) is +25.4% above Europcar’s weighted average price over 30 trading days prior to June 22, 2021, and +47.2% over the weighted average price for 90 trading days before this date.
If more than 90% of shareholders back the deal, Green Mobility Holdings will delist Europcar from the stock exchange.
Europcar Mobility Group has a global fleet of about 350,000 rental vehicles and 21 wholly owned subsidiaries – 18 in Europe, 1 in the USA, 2 in Australia and New Zealand – as well as an extensive network of franchises and partners in over 140 countries.
A fortnight ago Europcar revised upwards its forecast for FY2021 to above €170m EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation), representing a substantial recovery on 2020 (-€276m), but well below 2019’s figure of €278m.
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