Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group's board will consider a competing offer for acquisition from Avis Budget Group but said Avis Budget inaccurately portrayed its acquisition agreement with Hertz, the company said in a statement released today.
Responding to a harshly worded letter issued by Avis Budget chairman and CEO Ronald Nelson on Monday
(BTNonline, May 3), Dollar Thrifty said its board "is prepared to entertain a ‘substantially higher offer' to acquire Dollar Thrifty." The company last week announced a deal in which Hertz would acquire the company at $41 a share, about $1.2 billion total
(BTNonline, April 26).
At the same time, Dollar Thrifty said Avis Budget "mischaracterized prior events and interactions between the two companies" and that it misreported the breakup fee in the Hertz/Dollar Thrifty agreement. The company said the fee was 3.5 percent of the transaction value, a customary level. "Additionally, Dollar Thrifty believes that the other provisions of its merger agreement with Hertz are entirely customary and consistent with applicable law," the company said in its statement.